Oh Gracious Twist of Fate
by GW Katrina
Summary: Due to a variety of factors, Hojo has Cloud collected and brought to the labs. Two years later, he is rescued by his lovers. On the run from Shin-Ra and trying to survive, the foursome has to deal with the complication of Jenova and being hunted. S/Z/A/C
1. Book One: Chapter One: Escape

Title: Oh Gracious Twist of Fate  
Author: GW Katrina aka Icedarkelf on IJ  
Betas:Skeren  
Fandom/Pairing: Final Fantasy Seven, and will eventually contain my OT4 of shiny. Aka: Sephiroth/Cloud/Aeris/Zack  
Notes: This is a massive AU, deviating from canon before the game even starts. As FL puts it, it rapes the canon storyline to hell and back. Basic idea: What if Hojo, seeing how close Sephiroth and Cloud had gotten, had the blond kidnapped before the incident at Mt. Nibel?

Chapters-present time

Interludes-past time

Special mention of Bardlinn, who got me into the damn fandom. huggles Linn, but attempts to strangle her at the same time Thanks, Linn.

I don't own FFVII, though I wish I did. Sadly, I only own crack plot bunnies.

OGToF: Chapter One

_August 27, 1994_

So long. Too long.

For over two years, they had been searching. Two long years of stealthily seeking answers, and hiding the fact that they _knew_ the truth, that they _knew_ they had been lied to. Two years of pretending to be suspicious, but unsure where to start.

They had hidden their knowledge. Hidden the fact that working with the person who had taken their friend away disgusted them to no end. All of their designs were carefully hidden away so that they could find the information they needed. The information that brought them here, and would hopefully save the person they cared for.

Now was their chance.

There was going to be Hell to pay if their friend was damaged in any way.

They all agreed on that.

* * *

He knows they are coming.

Trapped in here, this little place of white and sterile pain and hurting comfort, he can _see_ them coming for him, though he can't reach them. He's in his tube, hands and legs and skin all pressed against cold, cold glass, and thinking about those who are coming oh so near, who burn and hurt and feel so right and safe. They feel different, all intent and focused and burning through his head like fire. Green, green fire that hurts and heals and makes all the voices go mad, all of them screaming in his head. Except the one that holds him and tries to keep the others quiet, and he can't do it, but he tries and that makes it a little easier to hide from the pain.

They are so close. The one who is so similar to him, who burns with power and Mother and green fire, and tastes of everything and nothing and soft kisses and silver hair. He is there, burning with Mother's power, and hurting, hurting, hunting and hurting. Hurting because of Mother, hurting because he is in the tube, and greensilver can't touch him, and hunting to find him.

It's so hard to separate them, and he knows he can't, all he knows is that they are there, and it burns him in his head, but it's a pain that makes him gasp for air because it feels so good. It's not the pain of needles or white, white, white pain of the voices when they become so loud they burn away everything, all color and feeling.

The one who stays with him, who protects him from Mother and the screaming voices that rest below him, flowing in a green river of everything, is here. He can feel him, all soothing and golden, covering everything in a thick coating of something else. The sheer joy of having someone reach back makes it feel better, and he clings to the voice like a child to a father. The voice lets him, protecting him with wings of blood and golden claws.

And the much fainter one, who is laughter and softness and comfort. Who fights and is worried but hides it with anger. He feels of Mother's touch, but there is more than enough of the screaming river of voices to drown her out of his head. He wonders if that is why the faint touch does not hear her, why he is free to do as he wishes without having to hear the screams and cries and soft, soft whispers that frighten more than anything.

And her. She's more like him than the faint one, but less than the one that taste like Mother. She's power as well, all green as well, but soft green, not the hard, aching kind. She knows he's there, she reaches for him though it hurts both of them, burning, burning through their blood, but he's grateful because it hurts even more when none of them reach back when he touches them.

He feels her fingers touched bloody wings, and the voice that comforts him is gone, and he's screaming because the voices are so loud that he can't seeheartasteknow anything besides those voices pushing their way inside, tearing him apart as they try to take him away from himself. But her voice comes back, soft, so soft he doesn't know why he can hear her over the screams and shouts and cries, but he can, and he feels the fingers of the other voices pry themselves loose, leaving only echoing silence and bleeding, bleeding holes in him that he doesn't know how to fix.

Shush, she says in a silent way, soft and comforting as a fluffy blanket on a chill night, but cool as well, flowing over him and making the holes stop spilling blood. He shudders, cold and empty, and she smiles and takes his hand.

We are coming, she says without saying anything. We are going to take you away from this madness, you can rest.

Sleep, Cloud. We are coming.

* * *

A quick flick of the wrist, and Masamune's blade easily took care of the last of the men with guns. Zack had already dealt with the two idiots who had attempted to go against them with swords. Really, Sephiroth thought as he flicked the blade again, this time to remove blood, what kind of idiots did Shinra hire here anyway? He knew that the Nibelheim lab was out of the way, and not officially here, but still. To come at two SOLDIERs with swords?

Not that the shooters had done any better.

As the blood hit the floor, Sephiroth heard Aeris slide in behind them. She wasn't part of the frontal assault, so she was willing to let him and Zack lead the way while she kept a lookout behind him, but her job today was just as important. While the two men fought their way through whatever might be in the lab, Aeris was going to be grabbing as much information as possible. Sephiroth knew from experience that Hojo was not one to let an experiment go idle. He had held Cloud for two years now, and who knew what had been done to the blond in that time.

"Hidden door, to the left," Zack called, his eyes continuing to skim the room. Looking, the now former General of the Shinra military saw the tiny cracks of light that were just enough for his enhanced eyesight to pick out.

Now former General of Shinra. The corner of Sephiroth's lips quirked up. Yes, this was going to be a fine request of resignation. Complete and utter destruction of a lab, and, if he got a hold of the good doctor, killing one of the highest people in the company, official or not.

"I'll go first, you next," he said to Zack's unspoken question. "Aeris, as soon as we've cleared it, I want you to get those files. I'm not sure if they will be on a computer or not, but Hojo always likes to have hard copies around. Look for anything..." A pause, then he continued, his voice soft. "Anything marked Specimen C. Hojo finds it funny to mark his human experiments with their first initial."

Just like his own file, which he had never gotten a chance to read. But he had seen it, that file marked "Specimen S." If he had nightmares, he was sure those words were in them.

But now was not the time. They were on a mission, one that he would not let them fail.

"Let's go," he said, moving for the door.

* * *

The child had been so hurt that Vincent couldn't help but reach out again, trying to soothe the only person who had spoken to him in who knew how long. Not physically, though. Somehow that boy had reached inside Vincent's mind and pulled the slumbering man out of dreams. Though still trapped in the coffin, he had become aware once more.

Ever since that first contact, they had comforted each other. The boy, who said his name was Cloud, was Hojo's latest plaything. Tested on and tortured until his head was full of voices. One of them belonged to Vincent, though neither of them knew what was going on. He talked to the boy, to Cloud, who would whimper a sigh of relief whenever they would come together. It was almost awe inspiring that he was the one the child would turn to when the voices became too loud, and Vincent did what he could to ease the boy's suffering.

He couldn't hear them, though when he protected Cloud he could hear a dull roar, like a distant crowd, almost moving, always making noise. But Cloud would flinch and hiss and scream, hands tearing at sides of his head in this dark place that they found themselves in every time, overwhelmed by things Vincent simply could not hear.

It was easy to block them out, though. All he had to do, it seemed, was to wrap Cloud in his mantle and hold him. Almost like a parent with a child who's afraid of the storm. Once, Cloud had even asked if Vincent would be his family, that Mother was hurting him with her words and demands and silent, stinging whispers. And Vincent, who had lost his own child and lover to Hojo so long ago, had said yes.

Cloud wasn't so afraid of whoever Mother was after that.

And he had continued to protect the blond child. Until today, when the girl whose eyes burned with soft green fire had reached out and wrapped her arms around Cloud. As she did, Cloud had leaned slightly into her touch, and Vincent had heard his adopted child sigh.

Then the woman's fingers touched his, and he was forced back. Back into his body, away from Cloud.

Something was happening. Something big. For a moment, as he laid there, readjusting to his unmoving form, he wondered if that was the one Cloud called Mother.

No. Mother seemed to frighten Cloud. This girl had not. Cloud had shown no fear of the girl with the green eyes.

He couldn't initiate contact with Cloud, no matter how hard he tried. So Vincent waited, impatiently, hoping that he would find out soon if Cloud was going to be all right.

* * *

It was something they had practiced together more than once. Ever since Zack had become Sephiroth's second in command in everything but name, they had practiced these types of maneuvers, creeping after one another, watching for danger and each others' signs as they traveled through hazardous territory.

And if any territory was hazardous, it was one of Hojo's labs.

Zack had never liked the man, and it was pretty easy to see that the feeling was mutual, but it hadn't stopped either of them from working with one another. Hojo was in charge of the Mako shots for SOLDIERs, and that was exactly what Zack was. Luckily, he only had to deal with the man for that once a year, and could usually avoid him otherwise.

But what he and Seph walked into was exactly what Zack had expected. Mad scientist decor gone wrong.

Oh, the place was clean to the point of being sterile. No cobwebs or dingy, dark surfaces like in the movies. But the things inside the lab itself... Zack had seen a lot of bad things, but this was going to be in his head for a long, long time. From the way Seph had stopped a few steps into the room, it was going to bother him as well.

Green. That was the first thought that Zack had as he crept up to stand next to Seph, his ears keeping track of Aeris's soft footsteps behind them. Everything in the lab had a soft green glow to it. A familiar green glow. The same shade as Seph's eyes, the same shade as that horribly painful liquid Hojo put into their veins, the same glow that earned Shinra its money.

The glow came from the tubes. They lined the walls, their contents glowing faintly. Some were full, the things inside twisted and still, and he could only hope they were dead, and not suffering whatever had made them change. A few were still recognizable as animals, plants, or even a mix of the two.

In the center of the room, in the main tank, was a figure different from all the others, one guaranteed to give him nightmares for a long, long time.

Floating in the tank, eyes opened but seeing nothing, was their target.

Wearing only the mask strapped to his face, Cloud Strife stared into the distance, not reacting at all to the new people in the room. It twisted at Zack's heart to see his friend like this. This... quiet, still thing. Rarely loud, Cloud was the fidgety one, rarely staying still for too long. To see him not even look their way made Zack want to kill Hojo even more. And he hadn't thought that was even possible.

"Spike," he whispered, the word coming out harsh as his throat closed. Beside him, Seph seemed to break free at the sound of Zack's voice, and moved forward, already looking around for the controls that would free Cloud. Zack looked around, looking to see if there were any dangers that he needed to deal with, or any alternate routes of escape or entry. He saw what looked like a door, it had a keypad next to it, but no knob. Well, maybe they'd take it down later, but first they had to get Spike free.

Hojo, the dark haired man thought silently, you'd better hope Seph gets a hold of you first. It'll be over quick then. If I do... A feral smile crossed Zack's face. Oh, if he got a hold of Hojo first, there was going to be fun had.

* * *

Even as Sephiroth moved for the console by the tank, and Zack scanned the room, Aeris was going her own way.

The room _felt_ odd. In the back of her mind, where she usually heard the Lifestream, she heard a soft voice, echoed by darkness. That same darkness floated all through this place, clinging the walls and floor like sticky slime, tainting the very air with it. Partly, it was the Mako. When Aeris had first started spending time with Zack, and then Sephiroth, she had been forced to get used to that darkness. It was only the tiniest shadow on them, though. Here, in this lab that sang of fear and pain and despair, the darkness was thick, almost thick enough to taste, to feel.

The same darkness clung to Cloud, who whispered in the back of her mind, whispered that he knew they were there, he _couldn't_ touch them, though.

Cloudvoice sounded odd, sounded lost and echoed. She had already touched him once, when she had reached out, wondering where another of her kind had come from. But it was all wrong. Cloud wasn't one of her people, she would have sensed it long before now, after all the time they had spent together.

The brunette had the sinking feeling that this was Hojo's doing.

But now was not the time for this. Her job was to find the records, the true records. Sephiroth had warned her that the scientist liked to leave false records out, just so he could cause confusion if someone tried to steal his work. The silver haired man had already noticed her knack of finding things, of knowing truth from false. So he had asked her to do this, so that they might have some idea of what had been done to Cloud for the last two years.

Had it really been so long? Aeris thought as she let her instincts guide her. Had it really been so long since they had lost Cloud to the scientific insanity that was Hojo's mind? It didn't seem like it. A look at Cloud, as he floated in his tank, was enough to make everything seem off. He still looked so young, like he had the last time she had seen him, just days before he had vanished.

Not now, not now, not now. She had to find those records. She had to find the files for "Specimen C." When she had been told what to look for, Sephiroth had tensed, saying Hojo's practice of taking his victims first initial as the specimen label was more disturbing than simply giving them a number.

As she walked around the room, Aeris froze. _Here_, whispered the wall, its shadows tainted more heavily by the darkness. _Here is where he hides his secrets._

"Here" was an ordinary filing cabinet, similar to all the others that lined this wall. It was locked, sealed away from casual view, but still no different from its fellows. But Aeris trusted her instincts. With a sharp twist of her wrist, her staff battered away the lock, and she pulled the first drawer open.

Specimen C was one of the first files she found, first and the second thickest. It was full of papers and several discs, gleaming in the green Mako light. She didn't waste time, shoving the file into her bag. As she made to rise, the Cloudvoice whispered for her to look again. She did, and two other folders caught her eye. They were far larger than any of the other folders. _Survivors_ whispered the voice.

Specimen S/JENOVA Project and Specimen V/CHAOS Project.

Those were the labels. Instinct prompted her again, and Aeris also shoved those files into the bag. She had no clue who V was, but she had a sinking suspicion on who Specimen S would turn out to be. Still, if it was him, he had a right to know.

A quick walk around, and she felt no more tugs of that nature. When she neared a door with a keypad, she felt... something. She wasn't sure what, only that there was something behind that door, something familiar.

Then the whoosh of Mako draining and Zack's hiss of triumph caught her attention, and Aeris returned to her friends side.

It only took a few moments for the Mako to clear the tube, and she wasn't the only one who winced as the mask around Cloud's face held for just a moment before loosening, sending the blond to the floor of the tube with a crash. Seconds later, the tube was cleansed of Mako and opened, and Cloud was being cradled in Sephiroth's arms as soon as the door opened enough for the larger man to slide in. Aeris was sure that was the fastest she had ever seen the man move.

Sephiroth hissed, and she could see why. The blond's bones were sharp against his skin, seeming ready to push their way out any moment. "I'm going to kill that man," the man growled softly as he eased his way from the tube. Outside, Zack nodded, reaching out to brush back the blond hair, a look of fearful hope in his eyes. Seeing the still unresponsive man shiver, Aeris dug out the extra clothing they had brought, one of Zack's old SOLDIER uniforms.

"Hey, Spike, it's okay. We're going to get you out of here," whispered Zack, his fingers glowing the tiniest bit as the Mako caught in Cloud's hair absorbed into them. He traded worried glances with Sephiroth, who looked every bit as tired as he felt. It had been a long day, and all three of them knew it was going to be an even longer night.

Then everything happened at once.

* * *

_mychildmysoncometomecometomeandruleoverthosewhohurtyoursoverthosewhohurtyou_

She hissed, pleased with the reaction her eldest son had to her voice. He had stiffened, but not rejected her, not twisted away like his younger brother, the man who even now rested in his arms.

_What? Who are you?_

_IamyourmothermychildmysoftsoftchildiamtheonecalledJENOVA_

Oh, yesssss, turn towards me, she thought as her child shivered. She could taste his desire for a family, not the one he had formed around himself, but a real family, with a mother and father, ones who cared for him.

_cometomeandweshallleaveallofthisbehindandyoushallruleoverallofthemforyouareshouldbewillbetheirgod_

She had him. She could feel him turning, feel him reaching out.

Then there was brilliant light, bright and golden and green at the same time. Eyes glared at her, eyes the same as her treacherous child's. _You can't have him!_

_heismineandiwilldoasipleasefaultychildstupidchildunfaithfulchild_

The blond stood there, his eyes bright with her own power and other as well, power she had given to him but was unable to take back, because she would have taken it all from this stupid, stupid son of hers, who did not listen to his betters.

_iwilldestroyyoufoolishchildandformanewonefromyourbones_

And she reached out, her mind more than strong enough to deal with this upstart, this feckless child who would stand between she and what was hers. She reached out, and felt him gasp, even as his new strength lashed out at her. Not that he would do him any good, his untrained nature was too weak, too frail to withstand her.

She felt the sweet taste of ownership as she felt his heart flutter under her grasp. To own a thing's life is to own it. She clamped down, and felt that heart skip a beat.

_NO!_

Her eldest was not the only one who screamed this. That filthy girlchild was there as well, and the thing with bloody wings. There was even the faintest echo of her power there, and it was also crying out as her second child's heart skipped again, trying desperately to keep itself alive, even under her tight grip.

Then there was sharp pain, and she screamed, hurt for the first time in many, many years. Since she was sealed away by that bright shining sword. And it was that sword, or a version of it, that cut her now, separating her from her dying child.

_No, I will never join you. You are everything I feared to be, and I will never become that if I have any choice._ Bright, strong words spoken by her eldest. It was backed by sharp pain as both the girlchild and the wearer of bloody wings struck out. The shadow held the child she had tried to destroy, protecting him with the best of its abilities.

She would not win this fight. Not now.

JENOVA was wise. She would withdraw for now. Later, when she had time to assess the situation, she would come to collect her children again.

For now, she fled.

* * *

It had startled them all as Sephiroth had stiffened, eyes going blank, but Aeris and Zack had exchanged terrified looks when Cloud has suddenly arched in the long haired man's hands, blood and something else, something thick and black, streaming from his nose. A choked, gurgling sound escaped him, and the two who were watching were forced to grab onto the blond to keep him from flinging himself to the floor.

Only to find themselves in this dark place, with Sephiroth and Cloud facing a darkness that none of them could see, only that it had one tendril wrapped tight around Cloud's chest, his skin paling even more as he choked.

"Grab Cloud," Aeris had ordered Zack, who found he could not move as well as he wished to in the dark place. As he reached from his friend, Sephiroth finally struck, attacking the tendril at the same time as Aeris and a man he had never seen before. But Zack ignored them, his attention on Cloud.

Wrapping the frail(when had he gotten so frail, Cloud was almost as big as he was), man in his arms, Zack held tight. "Damn it, Spike, don't you dare give up now. We did not spend this long looking for you just so you could die on us now. Or I swear I will find your mother in town and make her give me embarrassing baby photos I can show Seph."

He was sure it wasn't actually the words that worked, but he still filed the threat away as Cloud took a deep breath, the choking noises fading.

"Z..Zack?"

Zack looked hurt. "I hope you didn't forget my incredibly lovely face. Because I will be very disappointed in you if you did."

A gasp-filled burst of laughter. "Oh, gods, you're real. I..." Cloud stopped, his back arching. Wide blue eyes stared at Zack. "She's leaving, we can't stay."

"Who's leaving? And I don't..."

"Behind the door. Bloody wings. Help him out." Cloud gasped again, and Zack noticed everything growing bright as the dark place around them started to fade. "He kept me alive, Zack. Help him..."

And then they were back in the real world, and Zack once again was looking at vacant blue eyes as Cloud was held in Seph's arms.

He desperately wanted to know what had happened. What was that place, and how they had gotten there and back. But he wasn't going to ask. They didn't have time.

Though he did have time for one last thing.

* * *

Vincent didn't expect the top to ever come off this coffin. He expected to be here for the rest of eternity or until even Hojo's mad experiments gave up the ghost and he was finally allowed to die.

He definitely didn't expect the grinning man with wild black hair to shove off the top and say "Morning, sweetheart. All good vamps are out and about."

But that didn't stop him from following the man out of the room, twitching as he remembered how to use his body after so long a sleep. Then they entered the main lab, and he saw the boy, face smeared with blood and black ichor, being held by a man with long silver hair that looked so familiar it hurt that he couldn't place any memory to the face. Beside them was the girl who had knocked him away from the boy earlier. She smiled at him.

"You are the one who helped keep Cloud safe. Thank you."

He blinked at her, and was startled when the man holding the boy... Cloud, gave a sharp nod. "If you were able to defend him from danger, you have my thanks as well."

The man with the wild hair grinned, though Vincent could tell it was a tired grin, more relief and sheer stubbornness than truly amused relaxation. "Hey, I don't know who you are, but if Spike and my girl okays you, that's enough for me." A jerk of his head towards the other three. "Want to help us piss off Hojo a bit more by getting away with this and leaving his lab a wreck?"

A smile, so faint that Vincent doubted anyone else saw it, tugged at his lips. "Anything that would cause Hojo distress already has my approval. And I am called Vincent."

This time the grin on the man's face was fully felt. "Well, Vincent, I figure that if driving Hojo mad makes you happy, then you are definitely all right. My name is Zack. Well now, ladies and gent, since Spike is the only one with decent short hair, I suggest we make our exit now."

"I'll show you lady," the silver haired man growled, but he didn't actually do anything, already moving for the door. "Zack, you take the lead. Aeris, behind me. Vincent...?"

Vincent knew the question before it was even asked. "I will take rear." He settled into line even as they started back up the stairs.

He was going to be free again. After who knew how many years, he would be free.


	2. Book One: Interlude One

_1975-1976_

Rumors are interesting things. They spread, change, exaggerate, lie, and even mutate completely, the end results rarely resembling the original rumor.

Still, every rumor has a grain of truth, no matter how small or how hard to find. Thus, if someone knows the people around them, they can easily find useful knowledge in the rumors around them.

Well, useful for them, anyway.

* * *

Even in the height tech world that was Shin-Ra Electrical Company, there was little, if anything, that could beat out the speed of the rumor mill. Orrin knew that for a fact. He had seen it in motion more than once, and every time it surprised him on how fast _everybody_ knew. The fact that all of his co-workers were lab rats, rarely involved in anything exciting, only seemed to make it worse. They clung to and dissected ever rumor, then passed it along, just to make the entertainment last.

Hellsfire, once someone had bothered to ask him about it, he knew that his personal problems had made the rounds at least twice. That was the absolute minimum required before anyone worked up the courage to speak to a rumor source/victim directly.

But the person who had come to him...

Orrin never expected Professor Hojo. The man was so far above him that even if he did listen to rumors, he shouldn't have bothered following up on them. But here he was, face to face with the head scientist, the man in charge of all of Shin-Ra's various labs and the Science Division.

He felt the urge to fidget, but fought it down. The dark blue eyes of his boss seemed to bore right through him, then the Professor turned. "Come with me. I have something I would like to discuss with you."

Not really having any option, Orrin followed Hojo to the man's office. He found himself standing before the desk, and feeling much like a bird before a snake as the other man sat down, eyes still fixed on him. The room was quiet, and Hojo let the silence stretch out before he broke it.

"I've heard you have found yourself in a delicate situation," the man said softly, his voice making chills run down Orrin's back. "And that you've had a few ideas on how to deal with said situation."

Orrin hesitantly nodded. "Yes, Sir." This man was his boss, and he was sure that there were some rules or another against what he was thinking of doing.

Another pause, a moment of stillness that made the muscles in Orrin's back twitch as another chill crawled up his spine. Then, Hojo sat back. "Tell me the entire situation. It is much better to hear the truth from the source."

Feeling the urge to blink rapidly in confusion, Orrin kept from doing it and looking stupid. Still, he felt rather dumbfounded. "Sir?"

"Now. Time is money, and we in science rarely have enough of either."

So Orrin spoke. "My wife, Sir, Nidara, we've been trying to have a child for a while now. Only something isn't working, and she keeps losing them. The doctors aren't really sure on why, just that it has something to do with genetics. It's hard on both of us, and I was looking for a way to get around the problem. So, since I worked here, and we specialize in genetic manipulation and the like, I thought..." Orrin stopped and licked his lips. "I'm sorry, Sir. I should never have even thought about anything of the nature, and I do apologize. I can assure you that..."

He trailed off as Hojo held up a hand. "Quite the contrary. I have had some interesting discussions with the President on something of this nature. He is very interested in it, as you know he only had the one heir, and that was only through tremendous amounts of effort. Your ideas fall along the lines of something I was planning on doing myself. I will tell you that there will be a cost though."

"Cost, Sir?" Orrin had the feeling that this was going to be bad. Hojo had started more than a few rumors himself over the years.

"There is a very underrated, very quiet lab in the Nibel area. I've needed competent people to go out before and repair damage done to the facility by the idiots who tend to work there. I want you to become a full time attendant. Also, I want to be able to do regular checkups and examinations on the child. It does me little good if, for some reason, the genetics go wrong and the child mutates. I need it to develop into adulthood properly."

Snake with a bird. Snake with a bird. Those words kept running through Orrin's mind as he found himself unable to look away from Hojo's eyes. Still, the terms didn't sound too bad, though he wasn't sure if he liked how Hojo was talking about the yet unconceived child. Of course, Orrin had heard how the professor treated his own son.

But Hojo wouldn't be raising Orrin's child.

On one hand, this was the best scientist in Shin-Ra offering to do this. He would be able to get the funding, as well as have the practical experience to do it. On the other hand, the rumors that followed Hojo were not the most comforting when it came to his "test subjects." Still, to have a child with Nidara...

"Please let me talk to my wife about it, Sir. I should be able to give you an answer by tomorrow."

Hojo nodded, eyes still locked on Orrin. "That will be fine. Before you go, remind me of your last name so I might have my secretary write you in."

"Strife, Sir."

* * *

Sometimes, Nidara Strife wondered if she and Orrin had made a deal with a demon.

When her husband had first come to her with Professor Hojo's proposal, she had been wary. A lab tech herself, she had heard her fair share of Hojo rumors. At best he was amoral, at worst a sociopath with a degree.

The siren's call of a child was too much to ignore though, and she followed it like any good sailor would.

It had been odd finding herself in the lab alone with the good doctor. One of the conditions of the help was that no one was to know of what they were doing, per the order from the President himself. Nidara got the feeling that if this did work, the leader of the company did not want others to know where his new ability to have heirs came from.

Trying to hide anything in the labs was near impossible, though. People saw Hojo's interest in her and Orrin, and humans being human, thought the worst. Her visits to Hojo's office and lab after hours were not unseen either. Since nobody knew why she continued to meet with Hojo twice a week, rumors started about them having an affair. Or those were the ones that she knew of, the ones she would hear if she hesitated before entering a room, lurking around the door. People started giving her looks. Some good, some bad, some merely curious as to what was going on. Orrin got a lot of pitying looks, but he completely ignored them.

Her reputation had changed, for better or worse. Before, nobody had really paid any attention to her. Oh, she had her circle of friends and people she would talk to at work, but now it seemed she couldn't go anywhere without at least one person recognizing her. Then they would start whispering to the others as soon as she started to leave. It was wearing. Apparently, even though Hojo had a son, people had a hard time thinking he was human enough to have a sexual interest. Whether he did or not, she didn't know, didn't want to know. But now everyone thought she was said sexual interest.

It only got worse when she started to show.

There were definite sneers directed at her now, and more than a few odd looks at Orrin. Now the rumors changed to she was using Hojo, using him to have a baby. That she had finally, after loosing three of Orrin's, given up on her husband to chase down Hojo.

Sometimes, Nidara wanted to scream the truth. To rant and rave and howl until people believed her. Even if she did, though, nobody would. That was simply human nature. Instead, her hands would come up to cup her growing stomach, and she would think that eventually, she and Orrin would move to the new lab, and she wouldn't have to deal with these people any more.

Her bump continued to grow, and Nidara smiled as she would lay her hands there, feeling the curve fit so perfectly against them. Would this be what it felt like when she held their child? The frail curve of the skull, the way the baby would curl in her arms, those were in her dreams. In her dreams, their child, their son, would have Orrin's eyes and her smile and be bright and cheerful and loving.

Those dreams were what made everything worth it. The testing she had gone through, the time spent with Hojo making her feel as if she was some type of lab rat. All the pokes and pricks and tests done on her to make sure they had gotten all the genetic abnormalities that had claimed her and Orrin's unborn children, so that this one would be born happy, born safe and healthy. Those dreams were why she put up with the rumors, with the looks and the whispers. None of them knew what she was willing to do in order to keep those dreams alive.

Now, seven months along, she and Orrin were leaving Midgar. Hojo didn't want the baby born there, and so he had set the transfer to take them to Nibelheim in motion. There were labs there, and he said he would be out soon so that he might keep track of the development of the fetus. Nidara was just happy to be away from the tests for a while. She was ecstatic to be away from the snide commentary of the other people in the labs.

Finally, her life was going to get better.

* * *

He was just a grunt. A low ranking member of the Shin-Ra military. He and the rest of his squad had the normally easy task of playing watchdogs over Shin-Ra shipments. Kill a monster or two, chase off terrorist wannabes and bandits, and otherwise enjoy life.

This time was supposed to be the same. It was for the bigwigs in the Science department, heading to a place called Nibelheim. The only thing that stood out was the fact that they had a couple of people going with it. And one of them was heavily pregnant.

In their mission briefing, they had been told to protect her. That was their main goal. Next up was the supplies, after that the man. There had been a bit of curiosity over that, but he was willing to admit that they would have done it anyway. They were soldiers, and for the most part pretty nice guys. It would have been their first move to protect the pretty blond woman. She was sweet, and kind, and told everyone to call her Nidara. Hell, she even reminded him of his sister when she had been expecting. Tired, but cheerful as hell, and always running her fingers over her belly. The guy with her was almost as bad about the touching, but given that this was their first kid, not surprising. Hard to believe that their name was Strife.

The first part had been normal. Joke around with the family, roughhouse a bit with the rest of the squad. Normal, right?

The mission briefing never mentioned how bad the monsters around Nibelheim were. Or that they were that large. Or that aggressive.

The attack had happened fast. He didn't know what the hell the things that attacked them were, just that they were smart, fast, and attacked in a pack. He remembered being back to back with one of his friends, and black gore flying everywhere as they tried to stay alive. Somehow, they had managed to survive.

Not everyone had.

About half the squad was gone or going when the things ran off. Seemed the things had poison in their bites, and it scared the shit out of him to watch as his best friend's leg melted off. Jon, their medic, was trying his best, but they kept losing people.

Like Strife.

He had already been gone when the fighting stopped. Looked like he had died protecting his wife. She was a wreck, but at least she had stopped crying. Now Nidara just held her husband's hand in one of her's like it was a lifeline, and stared off into space. The other hand was pressed tight to her stomach, and he prayed that she wasn't going to go into labor. That would be just what they didn't need.

Thankfully, it looked like the gods were on their side now, because they were able to patch up a few of the fallen, and didn't have to help deliver any children. They weren't even able to take the bodies, and he had the feeling that when they sent people back to retrieve them, they would be gone. Enough things like carrion.

He had never been so happy to see a town in his life. And he couldn't wait to leave this cursed area. Thank the gods he didn't have to stay here. Not everyone was that lucky.

He didn't want to know, though. He was just a grunt.

* * *

Gene hated this job at times. Oh, he loved being a Turk. You got to go to interesting places and meet interesting people. Sometimes you had to destroy said places or kill said people, but it was interesting none the less. Downside of all that was you had to deal with Shin-Ra and all its shit.

Like now.

As he leaned back in the seat of the helicopter, Gene watched as Professor Hojo fussed with a few things as they were being loaded into the copter. He didn't know what they were, nor did he want to know. The less he had to do with Hojo, the better he would feel, because he had already been warned of the bad times the man seemed to cause everywhere he went.

Now Gene had to haul the scientist out to some little back woods town because the man's little bit on the side had gotten in trouble. Just what he didn't want to do. The others had been talking about getting a poker game started when the call came in.

The Turks were the assassins and enforcers of the Shin-Ra Company. They all knew that. Even if they hid it under nice terms and the like, they knew what they were. They were not delivery boys.

Tell that to Hojo.

President Shinra himself ordered the drop, though, so Gene would do what he had to. He wondered idly if anyone would notice if he pushed the ratty little man out of the copter once they hit a nice decent height.

Probably. And there would be at least one party.

* * *

Hojo muttered under his breath as he felt the helicopter thrum into life around him. Of all the worst timed horrible events to happen.

He wanted to be there when Strife had her child. It was the effort of many months of hard work and dedication to get it perfect. He had so many things that he had wanted to try, and now this had happened.

It hadn't been hard to make sure the woman had kept her child this time. The problem before had been connected to the genetic mixture of her husband and herself. He had simply replaced the genetic structure hers was mixed with. Exchanged his subordinate's contribution with a much finer one. The best one he had been able to. After that, it had been easy for her to keep the fetus.

But if he lost the specimen now, it would be hard to duplicate everything. Oh, he had kept careful notes, details of what he had done and the like. But Nidara Strife's genetic makeup was a lovely thing to see, and he knew the father's like the back of his hand, and he would be hard press to find another set that matched as well as these did. Plus, there had been a few times when he thought the specimen would be rejected as he had tweaked and changed things to make it fit what he needed. Like the gender. Much too bothersome for his future plans if the child had been female.

It was perfect. Plus he was would have his answers on a few other things, such as if JENVOA cells would pass from father to child. If so, what effect would have the cells as parts of the genetic makeup since birth have on the specimen? He didn't have an answer for that, as even Sephiroth, his greatest specimen, had had over a month of gestation pass before being injected with JENOVA.

Everything had been perfect.

Now the man was dead, and Nidara had been through several heavy shocks. She was currently taking care of the Mansion, but Hojo had decided to get there as soon as possible. There was every chance that, if she went into labor, she or the fetus might die. Hojo had no desire to play at raising another child, and he refused to lose such a potential test subject. Just the thought of what he might be able to do...

Hojo was a long term planner. It might be years before he was able to get a hold of the specimen again, but it would be worth it when he did.

Smiling to himself, Hojo settled back. Time would tell.

* * *

A month had passed.

A month since she had lost her Orrin, since he had died protecting her from that thing. A month since she had started working on the lab in this horrible little town.

She had hoped to escape the whispers, the looks. She hadn't. Already she had heard comments about how she had come without a husband, without a ring on her finger.

They had both been lab workers. Rings and jewelry got in the way. Neither she nor Orrin had ever thought about actually buying a set. They had simply married and knew that they belonged to one another.

Now she could hear the whispers. The people of the town didn't know that there had been another person. A man who had helped her life feel full. All they had seen was a too pregnant woman alone, and none of the escort squad had even thought to mention it.

She heard new comments, new names. Whore. Slut. Because she was pregnant. Nidara couldn't believe there were places like this still, where if you were married or not mattered. Bunch of backwoods freaks. Look where they lived. It was full of monsters and the like. Some of them wore human faces and lived in town.

It had gotten a little better when Professor Hojo had arrived. At least he was someone she could talk to, who knew the truth and who could comprehend when she used words with more than three syllables.

Muttering to herself, Nidara wasn't paying attention to the ache that came and went along her back. It wasn't until she felt warmth slide down her leg did she realize that she was in labor. Looking down, she saw her belly ripple. There was no pain, no real sensation of the muscles contracting.

She needed to see Hojo. Now.

* * *

He was a man of science. He was a man of rational thought. He was a man who was able to sit down and work through the problems he faced.

He was a man who wanted to curse.

Hojo growled as he sent another assistant for something or another. Strife had stumbled in, face pale, blood streaming down her legs. She had taken two steps in, then collapsed.

Of course, he had immediately had her hooked to the machines, and was dismayed to find out that the child's heart rate was rapidly approaching two hundred beats a minutes. Not good. If this kept up, he was going to lose the child. That was simply not acceptable. Strife herself was not looking good either, as more of her blood splattered the table she laid on. Mentally cursing at himself, Hojo looked at the others. "Prepare for a removal. Now."

He pulled the cap off a syringe similar to the ones used for SOLDIER shots. It was filled with thick, purple liquid. Pure JENOVA cells. No mako at all, but he wondered if it would be enough to make the woman survive the birth. Aftereffects would be dealt with later, he decided as he slid the needle into her flesh. Depressing the plunger, his somewhat well trained assistants lunged forward to keep the blond woman pinned as she arched wildly. Moments later, she was still, but the blood between her legs was already stopping, and her own medical readings were reaching acceptable norms. Now, time to operate.

It was a bloody, disgusting mess. Strife had lost conscious before anything could be done, and Hojo had been forced to put his hands into her body in order to remove the infant. Moving to the side with the silent thing in his hands, he had absently told one of the assistance to use materia to heal the woman. He had to look over the child.

The baby was bluish and still, and for a moment, Hojo was furious that he was too late. His hands clamped down on the child's chest, which drew a startled noise from the still form. As if that was the trigger it needed, the baby choked in a breath and then started to wail.

Hojo blinked at it.

A noise behind him made him look back. Nidara was sitting up, looking dazed. "My baby? I can hear my baby. Where...?"

Wanting to be rid of the squalling thing, Hojo moved to hand it over. The woman's eyes lit up as she took the child from him. "My baby. My Cloud," she whispered softly.

"Cloud?"

His voice seemed to make no impression on the dazed woman. "Yes, Cloud. Cloud Strife."

Nodding, Hojo walked over to the file that sat on a nearby table. Grabbing a pen, he quickly wrote the following on the tab.

_Specimen C, Male_


	3. Book One: Chapter Two: Clean Up

_August 27-30, 1994_

Nibelheim was in chaos.

People had heard the noises at the Shinra Mansion, though nobody had wanted to go up there and check it out. Too many of the stories and vanishings that had kept people away for years kept them away now. So, while the screams and the sounds of fighting had attracted a few of the bravest villagers, most of them had stayed far away.

The fact it was a quiet night had been the only reason that anyone from town had even heard the sounds at all, and then it was just those who lived on the outer edges closest to the abandoned mansion. Still, they had heard, and they had called the mayor, who had attempted to get people to check it out.

Now, though, there were a lot more sounds, and the people of Nibelheim gathered together to watch the bright lights and listen to the sounds of helicopters in the night sky.

They didn't realize everything was about to change.

* * *

He was coldly furious. The Shinra Mansion was a lab that he had put his own money into, taking the bits of the pittance Shin-Ra paid him and making sure that the lab was state of the art, having all the best supplies.

And now it was ruined.

He had suspected something was wrong when that irritating brat that Sephiroth called his second hadn't come in for his yearly Mako dosage. That was the one thing he could always count on people, even that rebellious child who never should have been allowed into SOLDIER, to do. As far as the SOLDIERs knew, those shots were what kept them as enhanced as they were. No need for them to know that it was mostly to keep them sterile and under the thumb of Shin-Ra. Hojo knew that they would have lost half the group if they were aware that they didn't need the boosters to stay as good as they were.

That would not be tolerated.

Not that he was going to tolerate this, either.

All around him, the lab was in shambles. The specimen he had stored here for years was gone. Damn Sephiroth. He knew for a fact that the child he had raised had done most of the damage, the slashes left by Masamune far too distinct to be anything else, though he did recognize some done by a heavier, thicker blade. Probably by that black haired irritant.

It had been a horrible last few days anyway. The Turks had reported that they had lost, -lost- track of the last Ancient. How was he supposed to continue his research? And his lone backup specimen, the boy he had worked so hard on, was also missing. Snatched.

Obviously he had been lax in security. He would know not to allow that next time. Two years had passed, though, and the pair had seemed to be no closer to the truth of what had happened to the blond.

Damn Sephiroth.

It was even more irritating to realize that he wouldn't have even known about this for another few days if it hadn't been for Strife. She had called and reported the incident as soon as she had become aware of it. He had taken a copter out immediately. Who knew when his more spineless subordinates would have given him the news?

Well, there was only one thing to do now. Ignoring the fire that was starting to spread and the sparks from the electrical equipment, Hojo turned towards the nearest trooper that had come out to "protect" him.

"There is a Nidara Strife in this village. I want you to collect her and bring her to me at the reactor. She can relay what she knows while I examine the reactor since I am already here. This you can handle it?"

The look the man gave him was disdainful, but at least he did try to hide it as best he capable. This was one of the SOLDIER hopefuls, and everyone knew one of the best ways to be rejected from SOLDIER, even if one did perfectly in everything else, was to piss Hojo off. So they did their best to not let their dislike of him show through. Hojo saw it anyway, but he didn't care. Let them hate him, he controlled their very lives once they joined the ranks of his best toys.

Turning around, dismissing the trooper in the most absent of ways, Hojo took one last look around, then spun on his heel and walked away from the destruction.

He had a reactor to attend to.

* * *

She could feel the one that worshiped her come near. This was the lone human that she trusted, that she let come close to her without shredding his fragile mind. He was her puppettoyslave, and that was enough for her to allow him life.

Still stinging over the rejectionbetrayalabandoment of her child, she was agitated, and did take that out on the one who came too close to her.

The one that called himself Hojo hissed in pain, and made noises at her that, for a moment, she didn't bother to even attempt to translate into anything resembling a real language. The words these things made with their mouths were babble at best, especially when they were in pain.

After a moment, she released him, and let him attempt to soothe her with words of her greatness and how he would deal with the ones who had hurt her so.

And, in some strangeoddbizzare way, she was hurt. Her child, her -children-, had rejected her. Any mother would be upset and hurt if their child did such. Especially her lovelygraceful child. The shadowed one wasn't enough of hers for her to claim, though she could taste her blood in him. And the spiteful child, her youngest, he was enough to make her wail.

It was the loss of her eldest that stung the worse. The one with the shining hair and gleaming eyes, he was the one that was truly hers. She could feel it in his heart, the desire to be more. He was more, he just needed her touch, her guidance to show him how to be.

He had turned his back upon her, her Sephiroth. Turned his back to collect the spiteful child, her youngest, the one who had hidden from her as much as he could. She was a mother, and she wanted all of her children to listen to her.

What mother wouldn't?

She screamed all of this at the one who worshipped her, and he writhed on the ground in response to her anger. He pleaded with her to calm, that he had a plan, it just needed a bit of time.

Jenova rumbled, and she listened. This one had proven useful in the past, and so she would allow him to try to prove useful again.

It was a good plan. She would allow it.

The plan hurt, and she and the other screamed. But it was successful.

Smiling, truly smiling, for the first time since Masamune had been used to seal her, Jenova called forth the fire.

It felt good to be back.

* * *

Nibelheim was burning.

She didn't know what had happened. She had been giving her report to Professor Hojo when one of the troopers who had accompanied the professor to town had run up, panting, that the town was burning.

And it was.

The only thing that Nidara could think of was that the minor fire she had heard the troopers talking about had spread while nobody was looking. It had been a dry, dry year, and fire spread so easily. They had been keeping watch on the mountains to make sure no deadly blazes had rushed down the town unexpected.

Now Nibelheim was burning.

Nidara wasn't sure if she should be gleeful or upset.

She still hated this town and its sneering, spiteful people. They had never accepted her or her child, and Cloud had grown up alone and shunned. The children had followed their parents' example, and even Tifa, the friendliest child she had ever seen, had barely spoken to her son.

That was the main reason she had let Cloud go to Midgar when he had asked. To get him away from these backwater hypocrites. The ones who said that one should always been open and friendly with one another and then sneered down their noses because they thought she had been unwed and Cloud a bastard.

She could have dealt with them sneering at her, but Cloud, even if he had been a bastard, hadn't asked for how he had been born.

Just the thought of her child, two years dead according to the message she had been given by the trooper who had actually come out here to let her know, made her angry again.

Standing on the mountain, she looked down on where the glow that was Nibelheim burning sat, casting a crimson gleam on everything. Behind her, she heard the troopers asking what Hojo thought they should do, if they should go down and assist.

"Strife," Hojo asked, voice calm, calculating. "What do you think we should do?"

She thought of her son, dead knowing only disdainful hate. Had he ever learned anything else? She hoped he had, he had sounded cheerful enough in his letters.

"Let it burn," she said finally, softly, just loud enough for Hojo to hear her.

He did hear, and, amazingly, he listened. Turning, he walked to the ones asking him questions and had them assist him with moving one of the tanks in the reactor, leaving Nidara where she was.

Blue eyes reflected red as she watched the fire spread into the woods, and imagined the screams of the ones who lived there.

* * *

It was all gone.

Trembling, arm a numb throb where it had been burned while she had attempted to help one of the people who had been screaming, Tifa couldn't even bring herself to cry. She was in shock, she knew that. Her teacher had been doing more than giving her fighting training, he was teaching her all aspects of fighting, including how to patch each other up.

She was also just too dry to cry, the fire having washed her tears away as she had wept earlier, heat drying them on her cheeks. Those itched as well, both from the salt and the prickle heat of a burn.

What had happened?

She had wanted to check out the Shinra mansion earlier, but her father had forbidden her.

Not that he would be forbidding her from doing anything from now on. He was dead, burned to death when their house had collapsed on him.

All around, people moaned and cried out for help, for family, for relief from the pain. The cries were slowly fading as the ones who gave them settled into the same numb shock Tifa found herself in, or found the peace of death.

Shaking her head, Tifa forced herself to stumble to her feet. What a time for her teacher to be out of town. They needed him so badly but he had been called away by a former student.

Tifa gave an almost sob and forced herself to not fall, though she was shaking and the world spun around her.

Hands caught her shoulder, and she found herself staring into blue, blue eyes.

"Cloud? Why didn't you come like you said?" She was angry and had to blink a few times to realize who was supporting her and she blinked at her a bit in shock. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Strife."

Why had she mistaken Mrs. Strife for Cloud? It was the eyes, she decided, blinking away the tears that wanted to come. Everyone knew Cloud was dead. It wasn't fair. She needed him now. He had -promised- to come if she needed him, and she needed him now.

The tears were flowing freely now, and Mrs. Strife made a soft noise at her. "Drink this, dear," she said softly, pressing something cool against Tifa's lips. She recognized it was a potion as the ache in her arm faded, though she was still so very, very tired. "Where's your father? I think you need to…."

"He's dead," she said shortly, looking at the blonde woman with dark eyes. "The house fell on him."

A moment of quiet. "I'm sorry, Tifa. My house is still up. Come on, you can lay down there and get some rest."

"I…I can't. People still need help, and I can't just…."

"It's all right. Those who need help are getting it. The others…. Well, the others are past where we can help them. Come on, you'll feel more able to do things once you've had some rest."

Tifa noticed that she didn't say that she would feel better. That was good. Tifa didn't think she would feel better for a long, long time.

She let Mrs. Strife lead her, and she was asleep before she hit the bed.

* * *

The remnants of Nibelheim sent a delegation to speak to the President about seeking aid two days after the disaster. It had taken that long for people to recover enough to actually come together and plan. They were a pitiful, ragged bunch, most of them injured in some way, and everyone was soot stained no matter how many times they tried to wipe it away. Nobody could bathe, really. The water in the creeks was too contaminated this close to the reactor to safely wash people or objects in. If the tainted water didn't make you sick, the monsters that were drawn there had probably already eaten you. And the trusted supply of clean water was for drinking and use on those injured who needed it.

Hojo took the people being sent back with him on his copter, leaving behind the troops. With him, among those who were going but who didn't plan on returning with the group, were Nidara Strife and Tifa Lockhart.

Tifa had, when given the choice, decided to go with Midgar for the time being. She left a message for her teacher, and not looked back when the copter had taken off, not wanting to see the blacked remains of her home. The place her father had died and she had learned that the world was a cruel, cruel place. She put it behind her, planning on returning one day, but not soon. Nidara Strife had been kind enough to offer a place to stay when they had gotten there. Maybe, Tifa thought, she would get to see the people Cloud had so wanted to be like.

Nidara was returning to her post in the main Shin-Ra labs. Her home, which she had shared with Orrin, was still there, and she was going to let Tifa live there as well so it wasn't quite so…hard. Besides, the girl deserved to get away from that town and to someplace she would be more appreciated than just marriage fodder. She had been kind to Cloud, and that redeemed her enough to earn a bit of pity from Nidara.

The blonde woman did look back, hiding her glee at the destruction of Nibelheim. They had deserved it, all of it, and even if it couldn't bring her Cloud back, at least it was a bit of revenge for him against the people who had hurt him so much in life.

Hojo didn't look back. Not when he knew why Nibelheim had burned, and what would be happening next.

The troopers just waited till the copter was out of sight and hearing distance. Then they waited a bit more, per orders. After the copter had been gone for half an hour, the man left in charge had given the signal.

They finished the destruction of Nibelheim, killing off those who were left and completing the process of burning the town to the ground.

Hojo's orders, after all, weren't to be disobeyed. Rumors circulated about those who did, and not one of them was anything any of them would risk.

Nibelheim died that day at the hands of Jenova and Shin-Ra's power, and nobody would discover it for years.


	4. Book One: Interlude Two

_1990_

This was the part that Zack was never sure about. Sure, the idea that each of the incoming groups of troops should have a chat with one or more of the SOLDIERs was a good one. It gave the newbies something to shoot for and gave some of the SOLDIERs an ego boost. They needed to have such looks of awe turned on them, but Zack didn't need anyone to stroke his ego, even if he did enjoy it.

Still, he had better things to do than to play tour guide. And, sadly enough, it was even true this time. He still had all those reports from that damn fiasco with the chocobos that he had, unfortunately, been the one to break up. Because he was the one who stopped it, he was being punished by having to write the report up on it. Or so it seemed to him.

Hmm, maybe playing newbie guide wasn't so bad after all. Especially since Seph had tossed him out of the office after listening to Zack's complaints after so long.

Well, might as well get it started. Looking at the motley band, Zack smiled to himself. It felt like forever since he had been in their shoes. Had it really only been year? They had just gotten back from the front a few months ago. Some people where still….twitchy.

Zack remembered when he had gotten his run through the tour. Back then, with the war going on, the SOLDIERs who gave the tour were the ones who were injured in some way. Like Jes, who had been blind in one eye from shrapnel. He had gone back out once he had healed as best he could. Zack had heard that he had died two days before Wutai surrendered.

Still, looking at the just barely trained kids, Zack wondered if he had _ever_ looked that green? If so, how the hell had he survived the war, let alone get into SOLDIER?

Most of these kids were just watching him with large, large eyes, and Zack grinned inside as he scanned the group. Well, looked like they had one smartass already, a redhead who was almost lazily looking at him. Zack fought to keep the grin off his face. Ah, a kindred spirit. Kid looked like a punk, with that red hair and the marks under his eyes.

Zack liked him already.

Another one who caught his eye made him think of those damn chocobos again. Anything that yellow and spiky deserved the comparison. Plus that look of sheer stubbornness reminded him of Seph's bird. Zack would have to find out more about those two.

Gods, they had a lot of young looking kids out there.

The rest of the group was pretty standard, though Zack did pick out the odd Wutai kid, or ones that at least looked like they were from Wutai. That was odd. It really, really was, to see kids who, just a year ago, would have been the enemy.

Looking around, Zack let a bit of the grin free finally.

"Welcome to Shin-Ra, kids. You're in for a rough ride."

* * *

Cloud was feeling rather lost. Not just by the tour, but by everything that had come before and after it as well.

Midgar was so completely different from Nibelheim that it was nearly impossible to compare the two. The awful, watching feeling was gone, had been gone since he had passed the mountains surrounding his home. Between bouts of motion sickness, Cloud had never realized how nice it was to not be stared at by whatever it was that stared at him. That alone had made it good to get out of Nibelheim, even if he hadn't desperately wanted to escape the people who always looked down on him.

That's why he wanted to become a SOLDIER, really. To prove to all of them that he _was_ good enough, was strong enough, was better than they thought he was. Cloud was going to _prove_ to them that he was worth something, He was going to do it, too. Show them all.

Midgar, though, Midgar was a bit hard to get used to. Everything was so _different_ from what he was used to. Louder, faster, and just more. More people, more vehicles, more buildings with more stories.

It was so easy to get lost in Midgar if one didn't know where they were going. And that was just above the Plate. Cloud would hate to even imagine getting lost below Plate. That was something they warned about when people first joined. A whole list of warnings. Don't go below Plate without being shown where to go. Don't go below Plate alone without letting someone know where you are going. Really, don't go below Plate alone, period. Never, _ever_ go below Plate by yourself and in uniform. Only people who could pull that off were SOLDIERs, and even they didn't do it very often.

The list about what to not to under the Plate went on and on, and Cloud had a funny feeling that they meant every one of them. Not for annoying reasons, either, but for actual safety ones. They all sat through the lecture about how more than one trooper got themselves rolled and their throats cut just because they were wearing the uniform. Going to get a whore, do it above Plate. At least those who roll people up there aren't as likely to kill them just because they had Shin-Ra's mark on them.

All in all, though, Cloud found everything a bit confusing. The tour of the facilities hadn't helped as much as he had hoped they would, and he was just happy to be able to find the barracks he had been assigned. It was a good thing that places were numbered, or he'd never find his way around.

"Hey, you're Cloud, right?"

Turning, Cloud saw the redhead with the face marks grinning at him, lounging against the wall. "Yeah."

"You're in my group, aren't you? I thought that the name and the hair would make you easy to pick out, but I was wrong. Lucky for me I saw you walking around."

Without asking, the other boy wandered over and draped and arm around Cloud's shoulders. "I forgot where we were supposed to go. So I'm just goin' to follow you around, kay?"

Cloud blinked. This was someone who looked close to his own age who was actually talking to him, of his own free will, and without acting like Cloud was dirt. It was…odd. Even if he wanted something, he was being _nice_ about it. What was the other guy's name? Remy, Rudy, something like that. Cloud hadn't really been paying attention, expecting to be ignored here like he had been for the most part at home.

"Name's Reno. Come on, before all the best beds are taken."

* * *

Reno was pleased to see that he and Cloud weren't the only ones who had gotten lost, so it was easy to snag a bed. Had even gotten the blond to be his bunk mate, so that was one less worry. Reno didn't want top bunk and was more than happy to give it to Cloud. At least he didn't have to worry about anyone who was too heavy trying to sleep over his head. That would have been nothing but a nightmare as he had waited for the bed to crush him to death.

What a way to go. Crushed to death by a lardass.

Strangely enough, he and the blond had joined the military for completely different reasons. While Cloud was trying to get into SOLDIER, Reno had actually been invited to join the Turks if he passed the basic training.

No problem. If Reno was anything, it was confident in his abilities.

Right now, it was almost fun. Cloud was fitter than he looked, and the pair, both slender and younger than they looked, seemed to find more than their share of trouble. Course, it had taken Reno a bit to figure out why Cloud had looked so young. The boy was a year younger than him. He had to give the kid credit that took balls. Technically, the age of enlistment was fifteen, having been dropped there from seventeen it had been before the war in Wutai.

Reno was far too happy to have missed that. He had seen the products of the mill Shin-Ra's military had been then, sending out greenies long before they should have. A lot of people who were crippled under the Plate had been those who hadn't died in agony in the mud, or from infection, or sickness, or any of the dozens of other things in the Wutanese jungles that could kill people.

He dragged his mind back from the stories the ones who had survived used to tell him. Instead, he focused on the back of the man leading them down the hall. Yet again, he and Cloud were in trouble. Some of the older, bigger people in training thought it would be an easy task to bully the smaller kids. And for some of the kids, that was right. Reno had the funny feeling that those kids weren't going to make it through the six month training process. Though the bigger kids probably were. Most of them were trying for SOLDIER as well, and Reno hoped they didn't get through, for Cloud's sake if nothing else.

Those boys had found out that the little blond and the scrawny redhead didn't take shit from anyone, and there were constantly scuffles. Sometimes they got broken up by the trooper who was assigned babysitting duties, sometimes they got broken up when people started to bleed, and twice Cloud and Reno had sent someone to the base hospital with a broken bone. People hadn't learned yet to try while the pair was separated, mostly because, at this point in their training, they weren't. Everyone was stuck together for a little bit longer.

This time the fight had gotten broken up by a SOLDIER, the same one who had given them their tour. Reno felt for Cloud, who was being very, very quiet. The boy wanted to get into SOLDIER with a determination Reno had to admire, even if he didn't know why. Being caught fighting like this by a _SOLDIER_ could really damage his chances of getting in.

The SOLDIER waved them into the room, and moved to sit in the only chair in there. Lounged in it, really.

"So," he said lightly, watching them steadily. "What caused it this time?"

Oh, not good. Both boys stood silent.

"I know it's not the first, and I know you aren't the first they've tried it on." Violet eyes, glowing faintly in the light, stayed focus on them. "Either of you care to tell me why?"

More silence.

Reno was very conscious of the eyes on him, but he, like Cloud, was staring at the floor by the man's feet. He didn't want to answer that calm voice because, even though those kids were wannabe bullies, they were still part of their unit, and they wouldn't rat them out.

"I can guess. The two of you, no offense, aren't that big. I get the feeling they've been trying to bully people for whatever reason. Well, I'll tell you what. People like that rarely, _rarely_ get into SOLDIER. They fail the psych tests, or the teamwork ones, and get washed out into the regular troops. Not fun for the regulars, but at least the SOLDIERs don't have to deal with someone like that. Bad for everyone if someone that small minded ends up with more than human anything."

A moment of quiet and Reno knew the man was studying them. "Look up, kids." Something in the man's voice did make Reno look up, and he caught Cloud doing the same from the corner of his eye.

"People like that don't make SOLDIER, or the Turks. People who team up and beat their opponents stupider than they already are, however, _do_."

He was grinning at them, and Reno felt a bit of tension loosen up along his spine.

"Come on, let's see what you little reedy things can do, hmm? I'm Zack, in case you forgot."

And with that, Zack gestured for them to follow again and walked out of the room. Reno shared a look with Cloud. "I don't know about you," he said softly, "but that man's insane." A grin. "I like him."

* * *

Sephiroth knew that more than a few people were afraid of him. He was used to using that fear to his advantage. In fact, he knew most of the people who he dealt with were afraid of him in some way.

Zack, however, was not one of them. It was…nice to know that there would be someone who would always be there to stand beside him, even if it was at the cost of a bit of dignity and discovering that there was a new fear due to Zack.

For the first time, Sephiroth was afraid of losing someone.

That being the case, Sephiroth was still going to be forced to murder Zack, he really was. The only thing that saved the man from death was the fact that Sephiroth really didn't want to have to train someone else for the job. He had _thought_ he had finally gotten Zack trained, and now the man just would not be quiet. Something about finding a few decent candidates in the newest batch trying for SOLDIER once they were done with basics. Zack had already complained that one was going into the Turks, and Tseng had sent a memo asking Sephiroth to have his subordinate please stop asking to keep the potential Turk.

The more Sephiroth tried to ignore Zack, the more hyper Zack would get. Eventually, however, he managed to convince Sephiroth to come watch them spar. Apparently, Zack had taken it upon himself to give them extra lessons, and had been pestering Sephiroth for a few weeks to come check it out.

Finally, just to have some measure of peace back, Sephiroth did.

For the limited amount of training they had had, and what he expected was complete lack of training before, he did have to admit they were not doing too poorly. Still, he wasn't sure why Zack thought it would do for him to watch them.

Then, slowly, after a few minutes of watching, he slowly began to realize that what Zack was doing looked familiar. He was correcting them with little comments, little gestures.

Like when Zack was sitting with him, watching a movie, and showing him how most people reacted by example, or showing him how to play cards and then shamelessly cheating.

They were his new projects. But, given that Zack still was being his normal, somewhat irritating self, he realized that Zack wasn't going to stop…being his friend. If anything, he was going to try to figure out how to make him like these new…children as well.

Strangely enough, Sephiroth was willing to give Zack a chance at that if he wanted.

He did feel rather sympathetic for the children after all. Zack was like a force of nature. You hide from him or just accepted that you couldn't escape.

Looks like those two, like him, hadn't escaped.

Good. Maybe it would give Zack something new to talk about besides his girlfriend. Because while Sephiroth knew he would kill for the man, and maybe even die for him, if he had to listen to anymore stories about flowers, he really might just have to go mad.


	5. Book One: Chapter Three: On The Run

_End of August/Beginning of September, 1994_

The roads were being watched.

It was to be expected, however. Shin-Ra wasn't about to let something like this happen so easily and without repercussion if they could help it, so they flooded the road with troops.

The squads were liberally sprinkled with SOLDIERs. That was the only thing that had them seriously looking for the General and SOLDIER 1st Class Zack. Otherwise, unless they were suicidally cocky, they _knew_ there was no way for any of them to take on the pair, let alone whoever else they had with them.

They were given descriptions, of course. Everyone knew what General Sephiroth looked like, and most of them knew his SiC, but they were also told to look for a tall man with crimson eyes and black hair, and a blond teenager, who may or may not be comatose, as well as a possible fifth accomplice.

None of the troops really wanted to _find_ these people, because they all had heard about the war. Hell, some of them had even served, and they knew what kind of fighter General Sephiroth was. He was the Hero of Wutai, after all. Or Demon. It all depended on if one was from Wutai or not. Frozen hells, his SiC was called Demon's Shadow. Who wanted to fight people with those types of nicknames?

The SOLDIERs, of course, were all for it. At least the ones who hadn't fought with the General in Wutai, anyway. The older ones, those still alive after war and the monster hunts, knew that they wouldn't have a chance unless they lucked out. Still, they had their orders.

There were whispers about what could have caused the General to betray Shin-Ra like this, but nobody really wanted to know the answer. Everyone knew that the President and Professor Hojo were furious, but who was going to actually ask either of them? That was a sure way to end up missing.

So the groups, troops and SOLDIERs alike, kept their mouths shut and followed their orders, hoping that they wouldn't be the ones who found the fugitives.

* * *

This was an…interesting group.

That was the best description Vincent could come up with for them. He knew Sephiroth's name, and had almost stared when told it. This…. It hadn't been possible. His lover's child.

His child.

Of course, he hadn't said anything, simply nodded and sat through the introductions, or reintroduction, of everyone else. Cloud he had already known, and he had heard Aeris's name in the lab. Something about her was both soothing and slightly bewildering. The demons calmed in her presence, and that alone made him inclined to both like her and be slightly wary of her at once. Anything the demons liked or wanted was something he should be cautious with.

Though he did find himself liking her. She had a sense of humor that reminded him of a few of his fellow Turks, before the labs, and that had made him smile a bit. Zack had something of the same sense of humor, and a complete irreverence of anything resembling personal space and anything that might be considered taboo for people. He did it all with the same carefree grin he had been wearing when he had shoved the lid off Vincent's coffin, too.

Even Aeris was a bit reserved about touching Sephiroth, who put off the same "this is my space, do not enter it" that Vincent did, a nice little kill zone. But Zack ignored it and any sign that _either_ man put off that involved "no touch". He just didn't seem to see it, or didn't seem to care. Vincent was sure that it was the second, because once or twice, Zack would suddenly leave Sephiroth alone for a half an hour, letting him carry Cloud, or would find something for everyone else to do on the other side. The other man was sharper than he looked, and Vincent assumed that there must be some reason for his complete disregard for other peoples flailing when he got too personal.

Sephiroth was the biggest mystery. Most of his attention was focused on Cloud, not that Vincent blamed him, and the way he spoke or moved around him finally clued Vincent in on their relationship. This was the lover Cloud had spoken of. That had made him study the other man closer. Even if this was his child, Cloud was also his claimed family, and, sadly, one he knew better than his own flesh and blood.

Damn Hojo.

They had to keep a low profile, staying mostly to the woods, and he was grateful the weather was warm out. He had done a few outdoor activities that were required training for the Turks, but he had not liked any of them. Vincent much preferred the warmer weather. A sentiment that was happily echoed by Zack, who said that as a boy from Gongaga, he would have been forced to find a hole and hibernate until spring if it had been anything close to cold. Sephiroth had retaliated and pointed out Zack had been stationed in the area around Icicle Inn in the north for almost a month. Zack's reply to that was that Sephiroth had been in a pissy mood that week and was torturing him.

It had taken a while for Vincent to realize that the two were…playing as they sniped and snarked at each other.

That was a revelation.

That had forced him to study them all over again as they had traveled together, hiding from patrols and keeping a steady northwestern direction.

They were close. All three of them, and Cloud fit in as well. Slowly, every so slowly, Vincent realized that Sephiroth wasn't Cloud's only lover. Body language and small verbal clues finally made Vincent understand that all four of them had been together.

It almost made him uncomfortable.

Somehow, it didn't.

He didn't expect to be uncomfortable because the four of them had shared beds with each other. The Turks had seen worse. It was the fact that they had the connection and he was not part of it. He was no stranger to being the outsider, but it just didn't happen here.

That was why Zack ignored his personal space, or why Aeris made the same near raunchy jokes at him that she did at Sephiroth and Zack. Even Sephiroth treated him almost the same as he treated the others.

Vincent felt his respect for them grow. They were sneaky.

He liked that.

* * *

Sephiroth had been trained in tactics and warfare since he was old enough to hold a weapon steady. Patience was one of his few virtues, and he had been known to hold onto his temper when any sane man would have lost it and slaughtered people. Usually he was pushed to that point by Zack, actually. Sephiroth cared for the man, but sometimes Zack nearly crossed that very, very thin line.

Patience was not something he had in abundance, at the moment.

Sephiroth wanted _something_ to happen. He wanted Cloud to wake up, he wanted them to stop having to hide, he wanted to deal with their pursuers, he wanted to do something besides have to run like a hunted animal, his lover staring blankly into space with those odd blue-green eyes he currently had.

Aeris said that Cloud was there. She promised he was, but that things he couldn't control, that none of them could control, was making it a little hard for him to wake up. She did what she could, and Sephiroth had to respect that, but it didn't make this any easier. He also knew that she was telling the truth because, occasionally, he could feel little brushes that just felt like Cloud against his mind. It was rather like when that thing had tried to convince him to join her. Almost had tempted him, but then she had threatened Cloud. That had not gone over well with him at all.

He wanted to kill things.

The others were letting him hunt, even though the animals he brought back were more than a little mangled. It was the only real source of stress relief that he had.

Couldn't kill the ones hunting them, which would have given Shin-Ra the clue they needed on where they were running to. They had a plan, and he would _not_ risk it and them just for a petty bit of vengeance.

They had raised him to be coldly logical in the labs, to not let emotion get in the way of his thoughts and that everything was expendable in pursuit of the orders Shin-Ra gave him. Hojo was a strong believer in the cold logic approach.

Zack had taught him that emotions were not a bad thing, and that everything could be made stronger with them. Zack was one of the most emotional people Sephiroth had ever met, and one of the strongest. Zack dealt with things Sephiroth had been clueless on, and it had made him realize just how hollow the lab's teachings had been.

He would always be grateful to Zack for that, and for the man showing him how real people acted. Lab puppet Sephiroth would have never rescued Cloud from the lab, pointing out all the foolish aspects of it, and he would never have taken on a lover, or three.

Sephiroth despised that aspect of himself and tried hard to never let it out. Zack would have far too much fun picking at him till it went away again.

Being impatient was, strangely, something new, and he would catch Aeris's soft smile or Zack's grin sometimes when they caught him muttering about things taking too long. He assumed they were doing that bizarre amuse/pleased thing of theirs. Sometimes he just didn't understand them. Cloud was the one who he had understood best. The blond had been the one who played translator, or who had been just as confused as him by the other two at times.

It had been nice to not be the only one who didn't understand.

He would sit next to the fire at night, usually with Cloud leaning against him, and Sephiroth would sit quietly and pet the blond hair, willing him to wake up. It never worked, of course. Cloud continued to stay still, breath shallow and barely there. There was some fear, never spoken aloud, that he simply wasn't strong enough after whatever they had done in the labs to stay with them.

Sephiroth hated that wordless fear the idea of Cloud dying caused. It was a tight, almost painful feeling in his chest. If Cloud died…he wasn't sure what he would do.

It wouldn't be pretty.

"Wake up, Cloud," he said softly as he helped carry the younger man along during their travels during the day.

"Don't make me be afraid for you anymore."

* * *

She wished that she could do more.

Aeris felt most frustrated at her lack of progress. Every night, as she had laid down to rest, she would close her eyes and reach for Cloud, letting her fingers follow the threads of the voices until she reached him.

Only he wasn't there.

She would have to scold him for that later. Honestly, of all the times to be off doing whatever he was off doing.

The woman was sure that he wasn't doing it on purpose. That his mental wanderings were probably a reaction to whatever that thing had tried to do to him before. He felt achy, and she couldn't really blame him if he was taking a bit of a vacation from the ow, but really now.

It hurt, a little, to look at Sephiroth and tell him that she wasn't sure when Cloud was going to wake up.

She couldn't even honestly tell him if Cloud was going to wake up.

Mental traumas were odd, and while she hadn't looked at the folders that still sat in her bag, she knew there had been more than just mental trauma. Should probably look at the files, but she wasn't the only one shying away from them. Sephiroth and Zack and their new silent brooding one were all avoiding them as well. Not that she blamed them. Who wanted to see what Hojo had done to Cloud during the time they had been looking? It would only add to the guilt.

They would have to look sooner or later, though. Especially if Cloud didn't wake up soon.

Aeris was positive that he wasn't going to die on them, but being left with a near comatose and unresponsive Cloud was not much better. Cloud dying would hurt them all badly. Cloud being a vegetable would kill Sephiroth slowly, and kill Zack's laughter.

Kill Zack's laughter and one killed the best part of Zack.

Aeris simply couldn't let _that_ happen, even if she hadn't been so fond of Cloud anyway.

So she continued to reach every night. She did make a few discoveries, small things, but they made her think that Cloud was slowly coming back out of where ever he had gone to. Nothing big, just little clues here and there that let her know that he was starting to be active in his head again. She knew he was there, because of the warnings he gave now and then. It was random, but they were useful things and just another sign that he was still there.

That was good. Now if he would just hurry up and wake from his trance.

Leaving good, happy feelings behind, she slipped away again and settled into sleep.

They still had a long way to go.

* * *

Zack was happy that it was still so warm out, though the nights were starting to take on a bit of a nippy feeling which he wasn't fond of. He had lost track of days and was surprised to know how far they were into September. Noticed the date on one of his turns to sneak into town and get supplies that they needed but couldn't get in the woods. There had been gossip going around, but when any of them heard the word "Shin-Ra" they had learned to start meandering away. Without knowing just how far or just how detailed the information of the hunt for them was being spread, none of them wanted to chance being recognized. Which was why Aeris was the one who usually went for supplies. Not always, but usually. That seemed to be her job of the group.

The three guys took turn carrying/playing support for Spike. He was too big to carry for long, and none of them wanted to just sling him over their shoulders and carrying him that way. It wouldn't have been comfortable for any of them. And there was enough awareness left inside that spiky blond head to stumble along beside them when they helped support him as they walked. It wasn't fast, but it did work.

Sometimes they had a patrol nearby as they moved, and between him, Seph, and dark and gloomy, Zack knew they had detection of said patrols all covered. Usually one person was ahead and kept close to the road, and one person was behind and did the same, and Aeris, Spike and whoever was with them kept their distance. As long as the enhanced person in the middle kept an ear on the fore and rear guards, they were usually fine with avoiding people. When people were near, they halted and stayed quiet, and when they were moving, they went as fast as they could.

When there wasn't anyone nearby, Zack would talk to Spike. Not loud or anything, but a low, steady murmur, reminding his friend that he wasn't alone and that anytime he wanted to come out and rejoin the rest of them, it would be nice.

They had gotten a late start this morning, and Zack knew it was bothering Sephiroth. It had been slow this morning as they had prepared to leave camp when one of those ghostly thoughts had brushed them, something that just felt like Cloud, and whispered dangerdangerdangernorth. Since the Cloudwhisper had pointed out SOLDIERs several times in the last few days, the group had listened. They had stayed hidden and quiet, waiting for the danger to pass.

And it had. The two units of SOLDIERs never realized they were there. The most worrisome thing about the entire incident was the fact that they had come from the north. South wouldn't have bothered any of them, since Nibelheim was south. North, though, was their best bet of getting to Wutai without having to fight their way there. Zack knew their plans were already being adjusted in Sephiroth's mind, the other man having fought more than enough battles to be able to plan and run at the same time.

They were running, too. Making use of that SOLDIER speed and strength to put distance between the danger and themselves. Sephiroth was on point, and Zack was at the rear, his arms full of Cloud, while Aeris was held safe in Vincent's. No time for the normal setup, that was the first time that the SOLDIERs had been in a group, not scattered with regular troopers. Aeris hadn't liked the idea of being carried like that, but acknowledged that it was impossible for her to keep up the pace of the others for long periods of time. So she let them carry her, much like Cloud, though she was awake and aware and able to talk.

Cloud was starting to be far lighter than Zack liked. The rush of worry had his system going full force, but the fact Cloud was as easy to move as he was told Zack that the blond was loosing too much weight. It was just hard to get him to eat, but….

Now wasn't the time for this. It was bad enough that Cloud's lack of reaction gave Zack the heebyjeebies to watch. The vacant stare of the mako lit eyes was the worst part of it. Eyes that Zack remembered as a deep, vibrant blue that seemed to glow without mako. He remembered Cloud's eyes full of love, lust, pain, fear, and hope. Not this... Blankness. At least his eyes were finally starting to shift back to their normal shade, more blue than green.

So, in the interest of his own sanity, and to remind Cloud that he was really there, Zack kept up a soft monologue, his voice just loud enough for it to be heard by his friend. It wasn't anything major, just random babbling.

"And Seph is absolute furious with Aeris's choice for color, but it's really his own fault for having such fair hair. We can't make it too dark, because that will just look odd, and he'd just look wrong as a dark blond, so we ended up going for strawberry blond instead. Haven't had a chance to pick up dye, since we're waiting for you to wake up first, but Aeris's told him that one of the cadets had hair the color she was trying for, and when he realized who she was talking about, Seph was like "Pink? You want to dye my hair pink? Isn't it bad enough I'm going to cut it?" And the look on his face was priceless, Spike. You'd think she had asked him to dance naked in front of the entire Shin-Ra board. Actually, I'd pay good money to..."

A subtle shift in his arms, and lips brushed along his jawbone. "Noisy, Zack," whispered a voice not heard in two years.

Zack almost fell over, he stopped so fast. Wide violet eyes stared as Cloud looked over and smiled a bright, brilliant, hopeless sweet smile that made Zack's chest tighten. "Free?" the blond whispered. Zack couldn't choke out the words, but nodded slowly. Cloud's smile softened, and then he let his head fall against Zack's shoulder again. Blue eyes slid shut, and Cloud fell into what looked like a real sleep.

"Seph," Zack hissed loudly, not wanting to disturb Cloud but desperately needing to get his other friend's attention. "Seph!"

Luckily, the others had noticed his sudden stop, and were coming back around, no doubt expecting a battle. When they came closer, Zack saw Sephiroth's expression, which looked torn between horrified and panicked. He couldn't figure out why, until the silver haired man spoke.

"What happened, Zack? Did something happen...?"

Zack felt like an idiot. There had been a lingering worry that Cloud's body wouldn't be able to take the abuse it was going through and finally give up. That was what Sephiroth was expecting to hear. Well, Zack was grateful that he wouldn't have to give that news.

Grinning like a madman, Zack couldn't help the sheer happiness in his voice. "He woke up! It was just for a minute, but he woke up."

And then the others swarmed him.


	6. Book One: Interlude Three: Pt One

_1990_

The Shin-Ra military was an odd one. For six months, they fed, housed, and basically took care of all the needs of the people entering the military. Basic training, uniforms, all of it was set up. Had decent bunks, was with the assigned squad.

Then a trooper finished basic. Everything changed then.

Squads had designated meeting points. At least once a month there was a drill to see how quickly the groups could assemble, a test in case of riots or other dangers to Shin-Ra Headquarters. Better time won things such as extra leave or special privileges.

Never let it be said that Shin-Ra didn't know how to keep its guard dogs happy.

Troops were expected to find people in their squad to room with, in groups of two to four, and rent the nearby homes and apartments.

Shin-Ra did this for good reasons. One, SOLDIERs were given housing near the headquarters, so, in case of riot, they would be the first on hand and would keep things under control until the troops arrived.

Plus, if the troops lived off base, they had to pay for the places they rent. Since Shin-Ra owned all that anyway, it was more money into their pocket, plus the money they saved feeding so many, though the mess halls did stay open to all the troops, more bought food to cook at home. How many would want to hike to the nearest mess hall when one had food in their own kitchen?

More money into Shin-Ra's pockets.

It was a good money making setup.

Though, sometimes, people did fall through the cracks.

* * *

"Aaaaaaaaah!"

Reno had _not_ been expecting that. Especially not in his bunkmates tone of voice.

"Look, I'm _sorry_! How was I supposed to know that the Turk candidates have their own section? We didn't get told till this morning?"

Cloud looked like he might scream again, and Reno really couldn't blame him. The pair of them had been having a shitty time with finding and holding roommates for the planned move out into the apartments surrounding the base. They had started out with four of them. Then they had lost Ver to a broken leg so bad that they couldn't get it to set right, even with materia, and he was stuck with a limp bad enough that it was pointless for him to continue in the military. So they had been down to three, but that was still not too bad. Plenty of places set up for three young troopers.

Then TJ, and it would drive Reno nuts cause he had never been able to figure out what names those initials stood for, had been called home. Nobody knew exactly what for, but it must have been bad, because Shin-Ra let him go. So they had been forced to adjust and find a place for two. This late it was more than a little pricey, as all the good places were gone, and that had hurt anyway.

Now Reno had just dropped his bomb on Cloud. He and the three other potentials for the Turks had been pulled aside today and told that they would be rooming together in a house specially for them. Reno didn't have a clue why they hadn't said anything before. His big theory was that they liked to make people squirm.

Small problem, though. It left Cloud roommateless, and, honestly, _everyone_ else was set up. Which, if Reno thought about it, was probably why Cloud had screamed in the first place.

"Calm down. Let's go ask around. Maybe someone else has the same problem. Can't hurt to check." Nodding to himself, he looped an arm around Cloud's shoulder and started herding him around. No reason to stand around screaming when they might be out finding a solution.

They split up after a few minutes, both of them asking and re-asking people, who were good natured about it, but apologetic. Everyone was already paired up, and most had already signed the final papers on their new places. The others were set to do the same in the next few days and weren't exactly inclined to rearrange everything, though they did feel sorry for Cloud and his bad, bad luck. Still nothing they could really help with.

Cloud was starting to get frantic, and Reno didn't blame him. The blond couldn't stay here, a new bunch of new recruits were coming in, and there just wasn't anyone he could stay with.

Then Reno had an idea. "Stay here," he said, heading for the door.

"Reno, what…?"

"Trust me, stay here. I got an idea!" And then he took off.

Last thing he heard Cloud yelling was "Every time you say trust me and you have an idea, we end up locked up!"

Get them tossed in jail two or three times and he acted like Reno made it happen _all_ the time. Honestly, he wasn't that bad.

Still, grinning brightly, he ran down the hall. He had a call to make.

* * *

Well, that was a bit unexpected. Pondering at what he had been told, Zack shooed the kid out and sat in his chair, kicking his feet up to rest on his desk. It drove Seph nuts, but he liked the feeling of being stretched out and it helped him think. He didn't know why.

"Zack, get your feet off that desk right now!"

Oh, yeah, that was right. He thought better under pressure, and how much more pressure could there be than a pissy Seph? Grinning, he let his feet drop. Then he stood and wandered into Seph's office.

"Got a dilemma, Seph," he started without preamble, heading over to lean his hip against Seph's desk. There were a few piles of paperwork, but Zack knew mostly it just had to be initialed off on. He was still careful to not knock any of it over when he settled against the desk.

Behind said desk, Seph leaned back in his chair, and Zack just _knew_ he was as happy about the interruption as he was pretending not to be. Really, the man did far too much paperwork. SOLDIER or not, if he kept this up, they were going to have to buy him reading glasses soon. Besides, a little variation in the day made it go by fast. That was good. Kept people from getting complacent, and helped keep the days separate.

"Well, not me, exactly," he started when Seph gave that "well, go on" eyebrow quirk. "Seems that, due to situations outside of his control, Spike is going to be homeless within the week. One of the roommates was dismissed due to injury, another sent home at his own request, and the Turks just told Reno today that he had to room with other Turks to be. Sure we can't keep him?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Besides, given your bizarre sense of priority, I'm sure you will continue to find ways to hang out with them. And most likely end up arrested. Again. Continue."

"Get arrested once and never live it down." Zack just clucked his tongue and shook his head. "So unforgiving." Seeing Seph's look, he did, finally, continue. "Anyway, Spike is needing to find a place to live. Nobody else has got any room and time is a bit on the short side." He studied Seph for a moment, smile dropping from his face for a split second to let the other man know that this was pretty serious.

And it was. Last time something like this had happened, the poor trooper had been found unconscious and bleeding in the streets, where, apparently, he had been living. No way on any plane of the world was Zack going to let a situation like that develop around Cloud. Tough little bastard or not, Cloud was far, _far_ too pretty to live in a situation like that. One good drug and they would never find out what brothel he had ended up in.

"So, I thought I'd pester you and see if that devious brain of yours could come up with something," he said lightly, grinning softly at Seph. "Be for a good deed and everything. Have that yearly task all done and stuff."

"I do a good deed every time I don't give in to the urge to strangle you, Zack. And the solution is simple."

"What?"

"He can move in with us."

Zack felt his jaw drop. "Seph, you barely tolerate me some days. And you want to add another person?"

"You are noisy. Cloud is very…calm and quiet."

Something in Seph's voice made Zack pause. Oh, it couldn't be….

He took a closer look. He wasn't insane, at least not with this.

Seph had a crush.

With almost anyone else, Zack would have _immediately_ launched into teasing. Hell, it was a friend's job to razz anyone they were friends with them when crushes were discovered.

Zack couldn't do it to Seph. Never to Seph. Not yet, anyway. Seph was just too…fragile, in his own way, for Zack to tease him about this. Hell, Zack was _proud_ of the man.

Later, he would tease.

"So, we're kidnapping Spike and installing him in the house. Sounds like a plan."

"I said nothing about kidnapping, Zack."

"So? It'll make it fun. Let's steal all of his stuff and move it, then kidnap him."

"You might _ask_ him if he would be interested or willing to move in before moving his things."

Zack gave him a blank look. "Where's the fun in that?"

Seph just groaned and muttered about people who lacked even more common courtesy than him.

"Just have a wider range we find funny, Seph, is all. Just a wider range of funny."

He grinned at the man. "Come on, help me plan on how to kidnap Spike."

* * *

It had been both harder and easier than he had expected when they had moved Strife in. The boy had been quiet, no doubt about that, and he had been neat. Both were a relief. While Zack wasn't exactly messy, he…left things _everywhere_. Bits and pieces of things all over. Said it made the house lived in, and Sephiroth barely refrained from shoving all of it back into the man's room just to get it out of the way. He had done that at first until Zack, quietly, had kept it all in his room. When it went away, it was just as irritating as when Zack's things were scattered everywhere. It had taken a while, but they had reached a happy medium.

For a bit, Sephiroth had been afraid that that Strife was going to upset the balance, but he hadn't. If it wasn't for the fact that he could look in and see that Cloud had taken to decorating his room, or would see the blond around the house, he wouldn't have known the younger man was there.

That part wasn't the hard part. Sephiroth almost preferred the youngest of them around at times because he was so quiet that it let him think, something Zack was very, very good at frazzling, usually at the worst of times. Strife…was frazzling in a completely different way, one Sephiroth wasn't sure he quite got. It was nice, but…annoying at the same time. He found that if he really did need to think clearly, the office was the place to stay. If he was home, either Zack would drag him over to watch a movie or just randomly chat, or he would look over and see Strife studying and absently chewing on his lower lip, or even possibly stretched out and snoozing on the couch without meaning to, stomach bared as his shirt had rode up.

Feeling a tingle creep up his spine, Sephiroth frowned. Even without Strife being here, he was _still_ frazzling. How did he _do_ that? It seemed impossible, but it was the case. Not even Zack was so capable at scrambling his thoughts as to do it at a distance. And he knew that Strife was on guard duty tonight for a few more hours, then probably staying at a friend's house.

He sighed and frowned at the memo he had been given. It was time for his yearly shot. Hojo had personally hunted him down and gave him the memo. Not unexpected, the man was rather disturbingly obsessed with making sure everyone had their shots, especially the 1st class SOLDIERs. Who Sephiroth was grouped in with. He knew that this day was coming up, as Zack's had been just two months ago. Luckily before Strife had moved in. It had been a rather…violent night. Wasn't the only time that he and Zack got a little rough, but with the shot, it was the one time that Zack almost delighted in the violence and the fight was as important, if not more so, than the sex.

Sighing, looking down at the paper, Sephiroth crumpled it. It was going to be a long night. Zack wouldn't be back till late tonight at the earliest, and Strife was not even taken into consideration. Thankfully, he would not be home. Sephiroth had mentioned that he was due a Mako shot this morning before the blond had left. The boy had nodded, so he had heard and would no doubt take the appropriate measures.

Dropping the paper into the trash, he stepped out of the house, face carefully blank. Time to get this over with.

* * *

Cloud sighed a bit. The house was quiet, with Zack still out of town on that mission, and Sephiroth had said something this morning about getting a Mako booster, so that's where Cloud supposed he was. Still couldn't believe that he was living with these two.

He didn't have any duty tonight or tomorrow, so decided to clean his uniforms, and was curled up in his desk chair, studying, clad in a comfy pair of newer jeans, which he was far too pleased to be wearing because that meant he was finally growing, and an old tee shirt. It was washed so many times he couldn't read what it said anymore, and it was stretched to its limits as he was putting on muscle, but it was still the most comfortable thing he owned.

It was the faint sound of leather scuffing against the carpet that made him tip his head back and look just as they had moved to put their hands on his shoulders. He jumped a bit, then relaxed. "Oh, hello, Sephiroth."

Sephiroth blinked slowly at him, and Cloud had a moment to think that something looked very off about the older man when, suddenly and without _any_ warning at all, Sephiroth started to slide his hand down his chest. Cloud eeped and jerked a bit away from the sudden and overly familiar touch, eyes going wide. "Hey, what are you doing?"

His sudden reaction was ignored except for the hand that still rested on his shoulder tightening, and Cloud squirmed from that, feeling something grind that probably shouldn't have been grinding. Instinct kicked in, and Cloud threw himself to the side not being held by Sephiroth. Luck was with him, and he managed to pull away, almost staggering as he did.

Sephiroth made a small, almost irritated sound of exasperation, and his hand darted forward and quickly snatched the back of Cloud's shirt and yanking him back sharply. That was a bit much for the worn fabric, and Cloud heard the sound so it ripping as he was pulled back hard against Seph's chest, choking a moment as the collar cut hard against his throat. That was dealt with a minute later when a strong hand yanked and actually _tore_ the shirt down the middle. The old, worn fabric didn't have a chance against enhanced SOLDIER strength.

With a yelp, Cloud thrashed and lashed out. Memories of fights against bigger, stronger opponents kicked in, and he did kick, he kicked as hard as he could. Again he lucked out, and he felt something give under his foot. Sephiroth hissed and his fingers tightened on the remnants of the shirt in his hand. A glimpse of his face showed that the man was frowning, looking rather displeased.

"Let _go_ of me!" Cloud hissed, twisting as best he could in the grip he was in, teeth bared as he actually snarled at Sephiroth, scared half to death and near panicking. Then the other man almost absently flipped him towards the bed. With a grunt, Cloud hit it, then his training kicked in and he rolled with the momentum, managing to land on his feet on the other side. The second his feet had hit the ground, he was darting for the bedroom door, wanting out now. Panting already, confused as hell and more than a little frightened, Cloud wanted away. Now.

He had tried to go, but the other man was right on his heels, reaching out and snagging the back of Cloud's pants, and Cloud reacted. Flailing, he tried to catch Sephiroth with an arm, hoping he would be as successful as he had been with the kick. Didn't see that was going to be the case, however as the limb was easily snagged and he was pushed forward as if he weighted nothing at all.

"Let me _go_! Damnit, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Cloud continues to struggle, not understanding at all why Sephiroth was doing this. All he knew was that it was frightening as anything to be manhandled like this, without any consideration for him at all. His shoulder throbbed, and Cloud hoped it hadn't actually been damaged.

Then Sephiroth let him go, but not before spinning him. Stumbling over his own feet, Cloud felt a hand, hot against his back, firmly pressed between his shoulder blades and shoved against Sephiroth. Then the man….

The man _kissed_ him.

Cloud opened his mouth to the kiss, and then snapped his jaws together hard. He tasted blood and felt an almost feral pleasure. Cloud wasn't going to let anyone, not even General Sephiroth himself, get away with something like this without a fight first.

At least that seemed to get some reaction as Sephiroth made a small noise and pulled back, looking at him with confused eyes as his fingers of the hand not pressed against Cloud's back touched the bloody spot where Cloud had bitten. Then he moved forward, forcing Cloud to step back, green eyes narrowing.

Why didn't he let go? That's all Cloud wanted at this point was for Sephiroth to let him go. "Stop it," he snarled at the taller man, struggling a bit as he tried to get free of the hand that was still pressed tight against his back. "What the hell is _wrong_ with you?" It was a frantic and probably wasted effort, but he dug frantically through his memory, trying to come up with a trick that the General might not have a counter to.

That was pretty futile and he was well aware of it. So Cloud was forced to revert to something he had to use in the days when he had been bullied more than a little. Who knew that, someday, he's at least have a brief moment of gratitude for the kids he had grown up with? If they hadn't tormented him, he might not have thought of this type of maneuver.

He flailed a bit, lashing out with as many blows and kicks as he could do, getting more violent and wilder as Sephiroth didn't let go. The one holding him drew in a sharp, almost surprised breath and pulled back, letting go of Cloud to block some of the strikes. A small, confused frown was his only expression, not that Cloud cared at the moment. He just wanted to get away.

So he did. He turned and bolted the second that the hand was off of him. While he was, sadly, much shorter than Sephiroth still, and his shorter legs were doomed to lose in a race against Sephiroth's much longer ones, he cornered a hell of a lot better. So when he hit the living room, he twisted and darted hard to the left. That direction would get him to the door a lot faster and still give him things to keep between him and his attacker. Once he got out the door, maybe it would keep Sephiroth from trying to keep doing this, or maybe having people around would mean he would get help.

Then Sephiroth was in the living room, and he looked at Cloud and darted forward. Everything seemed to slow for Cloud as he realized that the man was going to corner him. And if he got him cornered, Cloud was probably not coming out of this without broken bones of some type.

That was not going to happen. He refused to let it happen. Instinct kicked in. Grabbing the nearest thing that he could grab and swing, Cloud defended himself, swinging his impromptu weapon hard at Sephiroth.

The table lamp, an amazingly horrid and tacky fake bronze thing that Zack had taken great delight in getting and displaying prominently in the living room just to get on Seph's nerves.

It cracked and fell into pieces as it connected with Sephiroth's skull with a dull thud sound, the popping as it cracked a second louder almost gunshot loud compared to the dull thud.

A vaguely stunned look crossed Sephiroth's face, and he swayed for a moment, eyes wide, pupil contracting and widening again before the rather focused blow to his head kicked in and he, surprisingly gracefully, crumpled to the floor in a slow motion.

Breathing hard, still clutching the one end of the lamp in his hand so tight that it was cutting into his skin, Cloud could only stare at the unconscious form. That was Sephiroth. The General of the Shin-Ra military. Quite possibly the strongest man alive.

"Oh, fuck," he said finally. "I killed him."


	7. Book One: Interlude Three: Pt Two

_1990_

Gods, it had been a long, long last few days. He was tired, sore, and more than ready to just collapse somewhere that was at least halfway soft. Hell, the _carpet_ was more comfortable than the place he had been sleeping while on this mission.

It was so good to be home.

Tiredly shoving open the door, Zack stared blankly, blinking a bit in confusion as he tried to take in the scene before him. Things just weren't wanting to process properly in his brain and Zack knew he stood there for a few minutes, trying to sort it out.

Seph was stretched out on the couch, limp and lax, jacket missing and in a pile on the floor next to him. His boots were next to it, leaving him clad in just a pair of socks and those rather tasty leather pants. His eyes were shut and it looked like he was sleeping, silver hair everywhere.

Nearby, missing his shirt and collecting something up off the floor, was Cloud, who hadn't noticed Zack yet, and Zack grinned tiredly at the mussed look of the spikes on top of his friend's head.

Well, well, he wondered what had happened here.

"Did you wear him out or something? That's impressive."

The reaction he got was not one he had expected. Not at all.

With a squeak and a low sound of what was almost _fear_, Cloud bolted to his feet, spinning around and looking at him with large, large eyes. Zack froze, eyes narrowing as he studied the other boy. There was a red mark across the front of his throat, and a bruise spreading along one shoulder, already black and painful looking. Even as he saw the sheer fear in the blue eyes, he saw blood start to drip from where the blond had gripped tight on what looked like sharp shards of something.

The sheer fear in Cloud's eyes made Zack tense up. What the hell had he missed?

"Spike? Cloud? What's wrong?" Zack kept his voice calm and quiet as he took a slow step towards the other. When Cloud jerked a bit, he stopped and held his hands up and apart. "Not going to hurt you, Spike, I promise. I just want to make sure you're okay. Your hand is bleeding and I don't like it when you're bleeding. Will you let me look at it? Please?" Soft, steady tones.

Slowly, as if in a bit of a fog, Cloud nodded and sank back to the floor. Zack, still moving slowly and carefully, moved towards him. Settling down on the floor, he took Cloud's hand in the same careful motions, and turned it over. "Open your hand, Spike."

It took a second for him to realize that there were broken pieces of something all around them, and that was what was currently slicing up Cloud's hand. Starting to pick them out of the bleeding hand, Zack began to talk again.

"So, what did this used to be a part of? Just out of curiosity and all."

A moment of quiet as Cloud seemed to have to refocus on him. Zack didn't like this at all. Cloud was dazed, paler than normal, which was amazing enough in and of itself, and he was _shaking_. Struggling to not frown, Zack waited for the answer.

"Lamp," Cloud said softly, at least. "One you tease Se….Sephiroth about. It broke."

Ah, yes, the Lamp. Zack had picked it up at some little flea market or another just because he knew it would offend Seph's sense of, well, everything, really. Then he had made sure that it was prominently displayed at all times, just so he could watch the twitch Seph gave every single time he saw it.

Now was not the time for that, however. Right now was for Spike, and trying to get him back up to working speed. "So, any idea of how it might have reached this state of being broke?"

Slow blink. "You'll get mad at me. I don't want you mad at me too."

Oh, hells, it was damn near heartbreaking to see that fear and worry on Cloud's face. "Come on, Spike, how many times have I ever been mad at you? And, really, all you did was break a really, really tacky lamp. Nothing at all to really be mad at you for."

A tiny sound. "Sephiroth was mad at me. And I…. I didn't _do_ anything! I know I didn't! I was all quiet in my room and _everything_!"

Zack glanced over at Seph and was really starting to worry now. What was going on here? Leave home for a week and everything goes to hell while you are gone. "Well, we all know how much calmer I am than Seph. Why don't you give it a try? I promise, I won't get mad at you, okay?"

A few long moments passed as Cloud focused on him and studied his face, hard. Then, still shaking and not even noticing that he was still bleeding, he started up again. "I broke it on Sephiroth's head." It was a small voice he said that in. "I didn't mean to, I really didn't, but I was…. I had to! He wouldn't let me go and… He wouldn't, and he already had hurt my shoulder, and had _kissed_ me and tore my shirt and I don't know why he wouldn't let me go! I had to kick him and bite and punch at him and he _wouldn't_ let me go! I didn't mean to break it, honest."

The sheer despair and fear in Cloud's voice made Zack want to cry, and he was angry, but not at Cloud. At Seph. Some of that must have shown, Cloud hunched down and made a small sound. "Promised not to be mad…."

"Oh, Spike, I'm not mad at you. I still promise that. Seph, however, I am very not pleased with." He smiled, trying to calm down the other man, looking the hand over again. "Tell you what. It looks like we got all the shards out. Why don't we go get this washed off, let me cast a cure and get it all sealed, and then you can take a shower. It'll help you feel better and warm you up, plus you won't be in the same room as Seph. Won't that be nice? Be all nice and warm and clean? I can get you a pair of my sweatpants, you've finally grown enough that I think you can wear them and not have to worry about them falling down. Then you can crash in my room. Sound good? Seph won't get you in there, promise."

Large eyes, and then, after far too long a period of quiet, Zack got a nod of acceptance. He smiled a bit more. "Come on," he said, voice keeping the smooth, soft tone, rising to his feet and offering Spike a hand. "Why don't we get started on that, okay?"

Still shaking slightly, Cloud took it with his good hand. "I thought I had killed him. But he was breathing. That's good, right?"

"Yeah, Spike, that's good. How long do you think he has been down?" Zack was curious as he helped his friend stabilize, and they paused for Cloud to look at the clock before they started down the hall to the bathroom.

"Bout half an hour. His head made a weird thud sound. Or maybe it was the lamp…?"

"We'll find out. Come on, shower. Really proud of you, you know."

Wide eyes. "Why?" Genuine curiosity from Cloud at his words.

Zack grinned at him. "Well, you took the great General down. For a half an hour at least. Hell, _I've_ never been able to do that, and I know people who would have given their firstborns to be able to do so. You're pretty amazing, Cloud."

A shaking, tiny, tentative smile. But it was a smile, and Zack smiled back. "You did good. Come on. Let's get you cleaned up."

It took a bit to get that all set up, and Zack left him alone so that he could take the shower in peace.

Now it was time to talk to Seph. He moved back down the hall

Well, first thing was first. Kneeling next to the couch, Zack did a quick checkup of Seph. He hadn't been kidding when he said it was impressive for Cloud to put the older man down for so long. Zack had never done it, and the only time he had seen it done was after Seph had fought over a half hour on the field while trying to bleed out. And even that hadn't lasted for too awfully long.

It didn't take long to see the bruising that was still present on Seph's head, and Zack had to shake his head with a low whistle. "You are a tough, tough bastard," he told his friend softly. If he had been anyone who wasn't enhanced as much as he was, that would have been a crushed in temple, and Seph would have been dead. "Note to self, do not piss Spike off while he's armed with a lamp."

Even as he was examining him, Seph was starting to come around, and he pushed at Zack's hand weakly, still nowhere close to conscious quite yet. But the push gave Zack the clue to _why_ Seph had done what he did. At least enough to give him a good idea.

Catching the hand pushing at him, he turned it over and sighed when he saw the dark greenish discoloration that surrounded a fresh needle mark. Mako booster. Damnit, what the hell had happened? Seph knew what boosters were like. He should have known that he needed to warn Cloud and get him to find someplace else.

Damn Hojo, anyway. Couldn't wait until there was someone home who could handle Seph if need be. No, had to do it while the man was vulnerable, and now look what had happened. Chaos all through their house and who _knew_ how long it would be before everything had settled down back to comfortable again.

Zack really, really wanted to strangle the man. He had fond fantasies of getting to drop kick the little ratty bastard and not having to deal with him or his gods be damned shots and tests and theories. Problem with rising so fast in the ranks meant that Hojo was almost as fascinated with _his_ reactions to some tests as he was with Seph's.

Very agitating. Luckily, he and Seph could back each other up and avoid most of the more irritating things that Hojo would plan out for them. This time the bastard had managed to snag Seph. And he had generally fucked up Zack's happy home.

He was going to have to do something to get the man back. Time to figure out what he could prank of his again. Security on his office should have died down by now, and it had been a while since the pie thing.

That was for later consideration, though. Right now, he had other things to deal with.

"Seph," he said, keeping his voice low enough for the general fucked up sensitivity of post-booster senses, and to keep Cloud from overhearing them. "Up, Seph, we got a few things to chat about."

Slowly, far more slowly than expected, Zack saw Seph's eyes flutter open. The pupils were far more dilated than he had expected, looking almost round, just a thin line of the mako green that gleamed brightly around the pupil. After a few moments, the black contracted and became the more familiar slit pupils Zack knew.

"Zack?" Rough, ragged voice, and Zack could _see_ the faint lines of pain that were all Seph would allow himself, and that was only to the worse headaches. "When did…?" He shut his eyes. "What happened?" Starting to smooth out already, lines and voice. Zack did have to admit, it was impressive to watch Seph recover from things.

"That's a good question, Seph," he said softly. "If you were any less tough than you are now, I think Spike would have brained you good with that lamp. A lesser mortal would have died." He tugged lightly on silver hair. "You have a _lot_ of explaining to do."

A flicker of confusion in the back of Seph's eyes, and he started to sit up. It was a sign of how bad Seph still felt when Zack put his hand against his shoulder and Seph actually stayed down without a fight.

"You got your booster, I can tell that much on my own," Zack started. "I got home, all ready to sleep the sleep of the exhausted, and you are unconscious on the couch, in just your pants, and Spike is missing his shirt and you both are looking mussed. Thought maybe, _finally_, you had finally made a move to do something about that crush of yours. Only, to my surprise, Spike is bruised up and somewhat in shock. Not a good thing. He had apparently been forced to brain you with a lamp to keep you from doing things that shouldn't be done in your condition with anyone who isn't at least a 2nd Class."

Zack continued to watch Seph, looking for any spark of remembrance. What he got was confusion. "I…vaguely recall that. I warned him, though, that I was going to be getting the booster. I made sure to tell him." The tone was the closest to panic that Zack had ever heard Seph, and that was saying something. The man started to sit up again, looking around the room, and Zack pressed his weight against Seph's shoulders, pinning him down.

"Down, Seph. If you're looking for Spike, he's taking a shower. And he's going to sack out tonight in my room. You scared him, Seph. Bad. You are a lot stronger, a lot faster, and, though he'd hate to be reminded of it, a _lot_ bigger. You freaked him out. And I know how talkative you are normally, and how talkative you are when you've had your shot, which is not at all. I don't think he knew what to expect. So you, Sephiroth, are going to talk to him and work this out.

"Not," he said as his friend tried to rise again, "now. Tomorrow at the soonest. You try now, you'll panic him right out the door. Like I said, he's going to sack out in my room, you are going to clean up what he didn't get out here, I'm going to make sure he doesn't have too bad of nightmares, and tomorrow you can try to apologize and work this out. I will not be happy if you guys mess up our lives over this for long. I'm tired, and this was not a happy thing to come home to."

When he said that, he saw Seph focus on him, actually focus on him for the first time since he had woken up. "Bad?"

"Not the worst I've seen," he said lightly, "but not fun. You can see why I was less than pleased to come home and find a war zone in progress, right?" A slight nod was his answer. "I have a plan, Seph, you know the plan, and, for once, we are going to follow the plan, all right?" Another nod. "Good. Do you need me to get anything for you before I go get ready to crash?"

"No." A moment of quiet. "Welcome home. It is good to see that you are back unharmed."

Welcome home was still a bit stilted, but he was getting better. Zack grinned. It had taken lots of training to get to this point.

"Yeah, wasn't the best thing to find when I got here, but it's good to be back."

A small nod, and when Seph tried to rise this time, Zack let him, keeping an eye on him just to make sure that there wasn't anything lingeringly wrong. Seph was steady and didn't seem to be ready to nosedive, so Zack also stood. He grinned lazily at the man.

"It'll be okay, Seph. Just have to work things out is all."

Then, after getting the small nod from Seph, he turned and headed for his room.

Finally, maybe he'd get some sleep.

* * *

Reno felt the need to smack something, he really did.

He didn't know what had happened, but all he knew is that out of the three of them, only Zack was acting somewhat close to normal, and even that was a bit strained at times. He had spent enough time hanging out over there with Cloud and Zack between everything else that it was blaringly obvious that something was wrong. He was a Turk in training, he was being taught to watch for stuff like this.

So he studied, as best he could.

The most obvious was Cloud. The blond was great fun to hang out with, if a bit quiet, but that just gave Reno more room to talk, so he didn't mind that at the least. But that quiet was different; at least when they were at the house he shared with Zack and Sephiroth. He always kept one eye on their surroundings, and if Sephiroth entered the room, that eye fixed on him. Cloud had always been aware when the older man was in the room before, but Reno had _never_ seen him so fixated as he was now.

Sephiroth was also acting odd. It wasn't so easy to pick out on him, but Reno was pleased that he had noticed it. If they had been in the barracks, or an office setting, he was sure that he wouldn't have. However, given that this was his home area, the place he was the most relaxed at, he gave away more clues here than he would have if it had been some place where he had needed to be on guard.

He had a habit of coming in and taking a step towards Cloud, then stopping the moment he spotted Reno in the room as well. A moment of hesitation and then he would turn and leave the room. If it had just happened once or twice, Reno figured he probably wouldn't have noticed. He did after the fourth or fifth time, though. He wasn't nearly as unobservant as people seemed to think he was. It was the smart mouth. He noticed they did the same thing to Zack a lot as well.

One of those wouldn't have told him much, but both of them made him wonder.

He didn't like the picture they were presenting. Not at all. Cloud was his friend, and even if Sephiroth was the Silver General, the Demon of Wutai, if he was hurting Reno's friend, Reno was going to have to do something incredibly drastic and stupid about it.

The only thing that saved Sephiroth from jelly was the fact that _Zack_ wasn't doing anything. Reno knew the man was loyal to the general, but that Zack wouldn't let anyone hurt his friends. And though Zack counted both Sephiroth and Cloud in his group of friends, he would never let one of them hurt the other in a bad way.

So that meant a fight of some type, which Zack was staying out of. That still was not good, but as long as it wasn't actually physical, Reno figured that Cloud could hold his own. He had been on the wrong sides of Cloud's tongue before. He could cuss up a hell of a streak. One day he had even made Reno blush.

Still, he had hunted down Zack one day just to ask. The man had studied him for a long moment, and then sighed, running a hand through his hair. Reno realized that he looked tired. And, for a second, really _old_, which made no sense, cause he was just a year older than Reno himself.

"It…. Trust me, they need to work it out themselves. I'm ready to strangle them both, but it won't mean anything if someone has to step in and stop this circling of theirs. And I will not have dealt with this for none of it mean anything. I would be forced to go mad and none of us want that. I'm the sane one among us, and if I lose it, who knows what will happen."

Rubbing his eyes, he grinned at Reno, and Reno smelled a fast distraction coming up. "I need your help. Need to prank Hojo's office. Interested?"

Oh, yeah, distraction, but a good one.

He'd let this go for now, but it wasn't for good. Reno would keep an eye on things, and if it didn't get any better, he'd get the big guns. He knew where Zack's girlfriend hung out. It was a certainty that she'd want to help things get better.

She was scary enough that she'd probably enjoy it.

* * *

"Cloud! Hey, Cloud!"

Pausing at the sound of his name being yelled, Cloud turned to look at Reno, who was running down the hall towards him. He didn't seemed panicked, so Cloud wasn't worried, but he was curious on _why_ Reno was running around looking at him.

"Hey, wanna spar?" panted the redhead when he caught up. Not an uncommon request, especially since the other guy had gotten his magrod from the Turks, which was a sure sign that he was going to be accepted. It was interesting to see how their styles differed between that and Cloud's preferred sword.

Something about the look on Reno's face though set off warnings in Cloud's head, and he studied Reno a bit more. The grin on his face never faded, even when Cloud frowned. "You're looking for an alibi, aren't you?"

The innocent look that covered Reno's face was more than enough to let Cloud know he had hit the target. Reno only looked that innocent when he was hiding something. For a long moment, Cloud was curious as to just what his friend had done. Then he realized that knowing, especially around Reno at times, was hazardous to ones health. Especially when Reno was wearing his innocent look.

"You know, I don't want to know. If I know, then they can blame part of it on me somehow. Don't want to know, and I'll pretend I never asked, all right?"

"Sure," Reno grinned. "Still, you wanna spar?"

Cloud grinned at him. That was a nearly stupid question. "Sure."

The two of them headed for the gym to see if any of the rooms were open. Cloud was almost grateful for this, anyway. The stress at home was starting to get to him, and this was a good way to get rid of it.

For the moment, he was happy to shove his problems away and just focus on the now.

* * *

It had been a long, long day. Zack wondered if he could claim being too old for days like that, but at seventeen and a SOLDIER, he didn't think he'd be able to get away with that claim.

Hojo was furious, Shin-Ra was obviously tired of hearing from the scientists, and Zack was somewhat pleased his plan had had a better effect than he had been expecting.

Someone had vandalized Hojo's office, in a very messy, but rather security issue free way. However, the man had thrown a major hissy fit over how his precious research might be ruined. As if he actually kept anything of importance up there. It was his official, Shin-Ra-given office, most kept for when the President wanted to show off his pet scientist, who was then to show off his pet projects. Given that, Hojo only kept copies of parts of his real files. Usually just the impressive results and not all the steps taken to get there.

Zack knew, he had looked at them once. It had been a risk, but he had been curious, and there had been an opportunity when he was stuck playing bodyguard for various officials during one round of healing. Best incentive he knew of to not get hurt again.

But it had been vandalized, and after listening to Hojo, who had stormed into the middle of a meeting that had been going on too long anyway, rant about it for almost a half hour, Shin-Ra had told him to go take up some research in one of the other labs, which were on a whole different continent, and then ordered Zack, who happened to be there for something completely different, to investigate the matter.

Well, this was going to be interesting.

Especially given he knew just who had done it.

Seph did as well. Hell, when he had heard about it, he had looked at Zack and quirked a brow in a way that was asking "Why did you do it?"

Zack had answered with a tiny smile, which meant "You should know why."

The tiny downward curve of Seph's lips translated to "Shouldn't risk such things for me."

"You're my friend. Isn't so bad a risk," was the answer the almost shrug Zack gave.

Then they had gone their separate way.

And Zack was just _now_ getting back home, far, far too late in the morning, especially when he had to be up in about three hours.

Nearly shuffling down the hall, ears perked to the sounds of the house, Zack didn't hear Seph, which meant the man was probably in the office still. Would have to call and poke him to come home. And he heard Cloud's breathing, only….

Cloud wasn't alone.

The door to his room was open, and pure, completely morbid curiosity had Zack peek in. He shouldn't, he really shouldn't. It was an invasion of Cloud's privacy, and he knew it was going to kill Seph if Cloud really did have someone else he was interested in….

That was red hair. That was _familiar_ red hair. What the hell?! Why was _Reno_, of all people, in Cloud's bed, he and the blond all curled around each other under the covers?

Feeling his brain frazzle a bit at the image, Zack retreated.

Well, he wasn't tired anymore.

Maybe Seph would appreciate some company at the office.


	8. Book One: Interlude Three: Pt Three

_1990_

"You and I need to have a little chat."

It had been pleasingly nice to see Reno jerk like that, though by the time he turned, the other man had his typical lazy smile on, looking completely at ease. Zack knew better, though. Benefit of being able to hear someone's heartbeat.

He had been looking for the other man since this morning. It had only gotten a bit more intense when he had spied Cloud walking to meet the rest of his group, and Zack had noticed his friend limping. It wasn't bad, but…it was definitely a limp.

By that point and time, he had already decided to have a chat with Reno, but when Zack saw that, it became something of a moral imperative that he and the only slightly younger boy have a long, possibly threat filled, conversation. Threat meaning sharp, pointy objects, of course.

Reno was looking at him and, after a moment of study, nodded and followed him to the quiet spot that Zack lead them to. The fact that it was rather secluded was enough to make Reno look around, suddenly a bit more wary. Zack had wondered how long it was going to take the boy to start getting twitchy. Hadn't taken long at all. Not too bad. Too late to help, though.

Smiling, showing far more teeth than most people felt comfortable having bared at them, Zack almost purred. "So, you and Cloud, hmm?" He watched Reno closely, who was blinking back, obvious confusion in the back of his eyes. Reno wasn't that much shorter than Zack at this moment, but there was just a bit of height difference, and Zack knew he was a hell of a lot broader in the shoulders than the redhead, not to mention combat hardened. That, sometimes, made people more wary, but it didn't seem to be affecting Reno at all as the man obviously gave up.

"What?"

Zack crossed his arms, looking down at him, eyes still calm, though he felt the twisting in his chest. He hid it, though, and continued to glare. "You and Cloud."

More blinking. "Me and Cloud….? You are going to have to give me more to go on if I'm supposed to answer with anything besides what, or smart assed answers."

"…." Zack was, for a brief moment, speechless. "I saw you two last night. In Cloud's room. The door was left open when I walked past. And, really, I just wanted to tell you a thing or two."

At this point, Zack pulled on the persona he used when dressing someone down. His "I'm a scary, scary bastard who can rip you head off with one hand, and I'm not any less scary because I'm smiling" look. And he was smiling, bright and sharp.

"You hurt him, and I won't touch you. However, I will do something much, much worse." A bit more feral into the smile. "I'll tell _Seph_ that you hurt him. You'll only wish that I had gotten you first."

A few moments of quiet, while Reno blinked at him, more confusion on his face. The cluelessness was almost enough to make Zack think he had made a mistake, but then realization flooded Reno's expression.

"Oooh," he said, settling to lean against the wall, hands in his pockets and a lazy smirk on his face. "You mean _that_." The smirk turned into more than a little leer. "We were just having a little bit of fun."

A knot twisted in his chest, and Zack's eyes narrowed. "Just a bit of fun?" His tone was neutral, and that was good, though he could feel his hands clenching.

Leaning a bit more against the wall, Reno grinned and nodded. "You know," he said lightly. "Nudge here, push there," a bit of demonstration with a few twitches his waist and hips. "And everything just falling. Into. Place." He practically purred, radiating self-satisfaction.

Zack could feel the Mako concentrations in his eye rise up. The burn was there, and the tiny sheen of green that invaded his sight. Not that the green would be visible to anyone who didn't have enhanced sight. All normal people would see was the glow brightening. A good reminder that the person that they were facing was just…more than them.

"You had better not just be playing with him." His voice was low and definitely creeping towards not happy at all.

The lazy smile on Reno's face seemed to say that, really, Zack could do better than that. "And what if we were just playing with each other, hmm? Would that make it any better? Because I like Cloud, he's great fun to hang out and do stuff with." The tone was enough to make that sound as filthy as possible, and Zack's nails dug into his palms. "But I don't want to get too tangled up with him."

A low almost rumble in his chest, and Zack leaned forward and put a hand on the wall next to Reno's head. "Don't want to get too _tangled_ with him?" He didn't like that phrase at all, as he could feel the wood paneling of the wall sink in under his fingertips. Oh, hope nobody noticed that for a bit, a random part of his brain popped up.

Steadily meeting Zack's eyes, and not looking where the wood was creaking almost silently next to his ear, Reno just shrugged. "Yeah. I meant like relationship wise, cause the physical tangling is more than nice." The lewd smirk on his face made Zack wonder why he liked this one again, and if the Turks would mind if he tried beating some sense into the redhead.

"And," Zack growled, teeth still tight and speaking through them, "about what Cloud wants?"

A shrug as Reno quirked a brow. "What does it matter to you?"

The wood paneling cracked, a sharp pop that even drew a bit of a start from Reno. Good. Zack had been very tempted to try that to his throat if the other hadn't reacted in a way that indicated he was aware of how the situation was.

Eyes a bit wide, but still trying to force the same look of calm coolness on his face, Reno looked at Zack, then down at his nails, as if examining them for dirt. "Besides, why would I stay involved with someone when I'm just the replacement? Neither of us are expecting much, might as well just have a bit of fun while we can, right?"

A moment of quiet as Zack removed his fingers from the paneling, taking a deep breath to stay calm. "Why? Because you are sleeping with him, and…. Wait. Replacement?"

The surprise in Zack's voice was obviously enough for Reno to recover his confidence. "What can I say," he grinned slyly. "It's really hard to keep the mood going when he keeps going on about someone else."

Zack blinked at him slowly. "And," he asked, "just who is it that he keeps mentioning?" He leaned in, voice low. Could Cloud have actually noticed the crush, or figured out why Seph had done what he did? No, cause he wouldn't have been hiding from the man still. So who…?

Grin slowly growing, Reno relaxed a bit. "Now why should I tell you?" he asked, amusement clear in his voice. "It's impolite to sleep and tell, isn't it? And you were the one who is so worried about hurting him. Shame, shame."

Teeth gritting, Zack glared. "And since when have you ever been polite?"

The smile melted from a grin into a shark smile, sharp and just as feral as Zack's. "Since when have you been so nosy into who Cloud sleeps with and who he doesn't? Though I bet there hasn't been many, if anyone else besides me who've shared his bed." Then the leer came back, and his eyes brightened. "He's so warm, when he's stretched out next to you, all that nice, lean body right there….."

Zack slammed him into the wall, hand tight on his shirt and actually _lifting_ him off his feet. His knuckles brushed against the thin throat, and Zack was not feeling inclined to be even the slightest bit nice at the moment.

There was a choked sound, and Reno wrapped his hand around Zack's wrist. He didn't even try the futile task of freeing himself. Instead, he just tried to lift a bit of his weight up, so the shirt wasn't digging into his skin. "Oooh," he rasped, "getting feisty, are we? You'd think I said something to upset you."

"You little bastard." The words were hissed into Reno's ear. "Who the _hell_ do you think you're playing with?"

The reply was smug. "According to you, Cloud."

"You….fuck!" Zack dropped the other man and took a step back. Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to calm down. Then he continued, voice calm again. "I don't own Cloud. I can't control who he hangs out with, or who he…invites to his bed. But I can watch out for him, because he _deserves_ to be happy."

"You."

Zack paused and looked at Reno. "Me? Me what?"

An eye roll was his answer. "I answered your question. You."

More confusion. Zack, feeling rather foolish, stopped and rewound his memory a few minutes and watched it again. Oh…. "Wait, he talks about _me_?"

Straightening his clothes, Reno nodded. "Makes a guy feel like a second hand replacement when all his bed partner does is talk about another guy. Rather discouraging." A wicked grin. "So, what was this promise you made to him?"

Ignoring the question, Zack almost stuttered for a second. "Okay. Stop. Backtrack a sec. Cloud talks about me when you guys are together?"

"Constantly."

Zack was rather torn between gleeful dancing and sheer, dumbfounded shock. "Oh."

"Oh?" An amused noise. "Well, at least that amazing ability to make a comeback of yours isn't in danger of going anywhere."

A glare at him. "That's not nice. Are you just trying to mess with me? Because I will be very unhappy if you are."

"Deadly serious, yo. Should go ask him yourself, or are all 1st Classes this whimpy?" He looked at his watch. "I got to go, unless you want to tell the Turks why I was late?" With that, he slipped passed Zack and with a long stride, headed for the elevators.

Glad to know that he was still scary enough that he could make Reno walk faster. Zack stood there, pondering. "Maybe I will go ask Cloud," he said to himself.

* * *

Gods, it was going to be another one of those nights.

With a sigh, Cloud curled up on his bed, staring out the window. He wished he could see the stars though here in Midgar it was near impossible. On the outer edges of the Plate, if the timing and luck were just right, then, maybe, _maybe_, one might see one or two of the brightest stars.

So, instead, Cloud just looked out the window. If he sat at the desk, at least he would have been able to watch the people on the street, sometimes rather entertaining, depending on what time of day it was. But….

He couldn't sit at the desk. It just…bothered him to sit there.

Damn it.

Not able to sleep, Cloud rose. Zack wasn't home yet, and Cloud already knew the older man didn't mind him using the desk in his room. And all of Cloud's books were there. He'd go study for a bit. Maybe he'd be able to relax enough to sleep. Gods knew some of those books were boring enough to drive one to unconsciousness.

He didn't know how long he had been there when he heard Zack cough softly. Starting, Cloud turned, and he spotted his friend lounging in the door. "Don't have to get up," Zack said, moving into the room, stripping off his armor. "I just was letting you know I was there."

It was things like that that made Cloud realize just how much he _liked_ Zack, and he just smiled at the boy. Zack grinned back and, after a minute of putting up the armor and his sword, he flopped on the bed.

"So," he started, watching the ceiling. "Reno and I had a talk today."

Cloud blinked at him. That was a weird conversation opener. Well, might as long go with it. "Oh?"

"Yeah. He mentioned that you talked about me all the time." A violet eye fixed on Cloud. "Said you mentioned the promise."

Oh. Fuck. He shouldn't have told Reno, but it had been nice to know that Zack would, if Cloud had asked, to show him a few things. Cloud knew Seph and Zack had been together more than once, and….

If Seph lost it again, Cloud hadn't wanted him to be the first. Not if he was scary violent as last time. Would probably still hurt a lot, but at least he wouldn't have gotten anything really special. And Cloud…_really_ liked Zack. Really like-liked. He wanted the first time to be with someone he liked. Zack had said no when he first asked, but he did promise that he would teach Cloud if Cloud had asked again after he had calmed down.

When Cloud had calmed down, he figured Zack had just said that as a nice way to say no, and so hadn't acted on it, but he had told Reno, a bit awed by it. And now Zack knew he told, and if he had still meant it, he probably didn't anymore.

"You know, I meant what I said."

Or Cloud could be completely wrong. He looked up, blinking at Zack. He couldn't…. He didn't really mean it, did he? Nobody ever really _meant_ the nice things they told him. Just never seemed too happy. Not to him, anyway. To other people, yeah. People like Zack.

Only….

The honest affection he saw in Zack's eyes told him that, maybe, for some reason, Zack _did_. He didn't know why Zack liked him like this, but it was good, and he was happy because of it.

"Really?"

Zack smiled at him, ignoring how Cloud's voice had trembled just a bit. "Yeah, Spike, really." After a few moments, he grinned. "Don't need to look like I bit you, you know?"

Feeling a blush warm his cheeks, Cloud ducked his head. "Please?" Oh, it was hard to say that word. "Show me?"

A low, warm chuckle, and Zack held out his hand. Cloud, after a moment, rose and took it. Zack's hand felt really warm, and then Cloud was pulled close and he was on the bed next to him. Again, Zack studied him, then he leaned in and slowly kissed Cloud.

Zack tasted warm and spicy and, and…Zack-like. That was good.

After a moment, Zack pulled back and smiled softly. "Okay?" he asked softly. Cloud blinked, a bit dazed, then blushed again and nodded. "Good," Zack purred. "Remember, if you don't feel comfortable, tell me, okay?"

Another nod.

"Good," the older man told him, and Cloud smiled mentally as another long, soft kiss started.

He always knew he could trust Zack.

* * *

Wandering for the mess hall, Reno was absently keeping an eye out for tall, black spikes, and because of this missed the blond, shorter ones until the owner tripped him.

Blinking in surprise, Reno laid on the floor a minute before sitting up. "Want to tell me what that was about?" he asked.

Cloud stared down at him, one blond eyebrow cocked. "You told Zack that you know about the promise. Why did you do that? If I had known you were going to tell him, I wouldn't have done it."

Oh, hells, he sounded really unhappy. And he guessed that he couldn't really blame his friend. He knew he wouldn't have liked it to have something like that get around, either.

Reno looked at Cloud, just _looked_, and saw the slightly uncomfortable way he was standing. Yes, it had worked! "He had me pinned against the wall. Seems your boy thought you and me were sleeping together."

"What!?"

That screech drew more than a little attention towards them, and got Reno looks from a few of Cloud's other friends, who were just as protective of the blond as he was. Came from that adorable baby face and choco hair. Everyone wanted to parent Cloud. Poor kid.

Reno just nodded and stood, dusting himself off. "He said he saw us in your bed. Neither of us wore shirts to sleep in, you know."

"Why didn't you tell him the truth?"

Wow, Cloud was really _red_. Reno hadn't seen anyone turn that color before. Pretty neat. "Let's see, let him think I'm managed to topple you into bed, or tell him it's because I managed to numb your leg while sparring and we just ended up crashing in the same bed cause it was late. Which does more for my reputation?" He, barely, dodged the punch aimed at his face. "Calm down! He was worked up at me cause he was worried about you."

That got Cloud to pause, and Reno grinned at seeing such large eyes. "Huh?"

Shaking his head, he made an amused sound. "Boy, you guys match up well. He was just as talkative when I told him that he was the one you were always talking about. Course, he doesn't know that everything I said was in reference to our sparring." Reno grinned. "And I don't think I ever lied. That was fun."

Cloud was blinking at him. "But…but...but…." His mouth opened and shut a few more times before he gave up and just flushed a bit more. "Should have told him the truth," he said finally.

Leaning close and almost purring into Cloud's ear, Reno grinned. "Why? Looks like you ended up having a very good time. Tell me, is he as good as rumors would have him?"

Then he was off and running, being chased by a sputtering, beet-red blond, and laughing the entire time.


	9. Book One: Interlude Three: Pt Four

_1990_

Well, life was suddenly a lot more interesting. He hadn't really expected to end up with Cloud, of all people, sharing his bed on a semi-regular basis. Nor did he miss the look of almost hurt on Seph's face the first time the man had run into them afterwards. That had taken a long talk, a night of just sitting next to his friend and letting the words come. After that, he had a feeling that they both felt a lot better. Zack couldn't help but feel a hell of a lot of guilt for sleeping with Cloud when Seph still had something for him. He really should stop, but then Cloud would think he'd done something wrong.

Sometimes, Zack thought bitterly, he really knew how to get himself into situations.

Not that that situation was the only one. Cloud still avoided Seph, while Seph tried to figure out ways to corner Cloud, and the fact that he _was_ trying to corner Cloud was clear, so that made Cloud even more twitchy.

Idly, Zack wondered if he could drown them both. Maybe tie them up in the closet?

Well, they'd be united in the goal of killing him, he was sure.

Still, it just didn't seem things were getting any better. Over a month had passed since Seph's Mako booster, and he didn't think those two had shared more than a dozen words. And all of those had been while he was in the room.

Was going to strangle them both, then make Reno help him hide the bodies.

Damn brat.

It hadn't taken long for Cloud to say something to make Zack realize that his friend/lover has never been with Reno. He had been played, and played good. And he still wasn't sure if he should be proud of Reno or disgusted at himself for falling for it. Well, at least he got to be with Cloud, and being with Cloud was…nice.

Still, that was a bit embarrassing.

Either way, he was spending time with Cloud and, strangely, more time with Seph. Usually it was just the rare occasion that Seph sought him out for any type of physical comfort, but in the last month, he had come and spent the night with Zack at least three times. Zack was wondering if Seph wasn't just the tiny bit jealous with how much time Cloud got, and if, maybe, this was Seph's way of getting just a tiny bit of Cloud. The blond's scent was on Zack's bed, and scattered all over the room. It almost hurt Zack to realize that this was as close to Cloud as Seph was going to get at the moment, and that the man still had a very large crush, if not more, on Cloud.

Still things were just getting worse, and he wondered if it would ever get better. He wanted it to get better. Cloud and Seph would be good together, and he wanted both of them to be happy.

He'd have to figure something out. As soon as possible, too. If this went on too much longer, he was going to scream.

Maybe he should anyway. It would get a startled response from them anyway, not just from the noise, but from him losing his cool. Zack didn't get like that too often, but, honestly, this was starting to push his limits. A lot.

Hopefully they would get it all worked out soon.

* * *

Sex, Cloud decided, was really nice.

He _completely_ understood why people did it now. Still that was the only good thing to come from the mess so far. He still didn't trust Sephiroth, and the here and gone and here again of the missions was playing merry hell with his nerves. Sometimes both Sephiroth and Zack were gone, and sometimes just Sephiroth.

Now, for the first time since everything had happened, Zack was going and leaving Cloud alone with Sephiroth. That…wasn't good. Who knew what Sephiroth was going to do when there was no real place for Cloud to hide?

Not that they could change anything. Zack had gotten his orders not from Sephiroth, who, Cloud did admit, tried damn hard to only be in the house at the same time Zack was there, but from the President himself, who wanted to send a higher level SOLDIER who had been in Wutai during the war, but wasn't Sephiroth. At least that's how Zack explained it.

That left Cloud alone with Sephiroth for at least a week.

Frowning, Cloud sighed, and then went to look for the phone. Maybe he could find a few friends to stay with for the week or so it took Zack to get back.

He really was tired of being afraid in his own home. Even if it had been Sephiroth and Zack's first, he lived here now, too. He shouldn't be this nervous here.

Maybe it would go away eventually, but for right now, it was here, and it was enough to make him twitch.

No, he wasn't going to be run out. He was going to try to stay. He wasn't going to be run out of his house, and he did pay at least part of the rent. In fact, he had refused to move in unless Zack let him pay his part of the rent. Cloud still remembered the grin Zack had wore when he finally agreed with him about letting him pay. Sephi….

Sephiroth had looked pleased as well.

Why had that changed? Did Sephiroth not think he did enough around the house? Cloud knew that the other two men in the house did share a bed on occasion, but…. Did Sephiroth _expect_ that as part of living here?

No, that couldn't be right, or else Zack would have warned him. Zack was a good friend, and he would have never let anyone wander into a situation like that without some warning. Not to mention that Cloud knew just how protective of him Zack was. No way in hells would Zack put in him a situation where he would be intentionally injured or hurt by someone he trusted. Just wasn't going to happen.

He wasn't going to run. He _wasn't_.

That didn't mean that he shouldn't have a backup plan in case he needed it. Just in case he needed it.

Picking up the phone, he started to call around.

* * *

Zack had been gone for hours, and Sephiroth was _determined_ that, this time, he was going to talk to the boy. He just had to figure out when and how. This was what Zack was good at, another reason he made the man come with him to meetings and social events.

So, in order to determine the best time in order to talk to the blond, Sephiroth was quietly following him around the house, trying to stay out of the way, watching him with sharp eyes. He just had to figure out when to talk to him.

Then Cloud, who was almost twitching, stood up and started to stalk for the front door. A bit surprised, Sephiroth followed. For a moment, he wondered if it was just Cloud going to another room, but then he saw it was very clear that the boy was heading for the front door.

"Why are you leaving?" As far as he knew, the other had no plans, at least none he had mentioned to Zack, so he didn't think Cloud had anywhere else to go.

Not pausing in his movement for more than a second, Cloud answered. "Because you are…." He trailed off with a noise of frustration.

Sephiroth was confused. "No…I had no intentions of going out, so why…."

"That," Cloud hissed, "would be the point. You're here. I'm going somewhere else. It would have to be safer than being here."

More confusion. "I fail to see how going elsewhere unarmed is safer than remaining in a room with me," Sephiroth told him. That made no sense whatsoever. Being unarmed, especially outside and alone, was rarely smart, and how could it be safer than being with him, when Sephiroth knew he would kill to defend his people.

Hand on the door, Cloud paused, and then turned enough to give Sephiroth the evilest look he had ever gotten from the young one. He was more used to hero worship, though that had vanished during this last month.

He found he, well, didn't quite _miss_ it exactly, but he did miss the fact Cloud would pay him attention that wasn't so…fearful. Yes, fearful was not what he was looking for when dealing with Cloud.

"I don't recall feeling safe the last time the two of us were alone."

With those clipped words, tone full of anger and something else, Cloud turned and started to open the door again. Sephiroth's eyes narrowed. What?

"Last time we were alone," he said, his words calm and cool and almost as clipped as Cloud's had been, "when my control was _temporarily_ lowered, I am very much certain that I did nothing to harm you."

Blue eyes, flashing with anger so much they almost looked Mako touched, tried to burn a hole into him, but Sephiroth was used to far more anger than what Cloud could toss, though…it hurt.

"Right. Keep telling yourself that." Sephiroth tensed when he saw that Cloud was actually trying to leave, so he moved forward and put his hand on the door, keeping it from being opened far enough for anyone, even someone as slender as Cloud, from getting out.

"If I had wanted to hurt you, you would be injured." A simple fact. Really, Sephiroth could kill everyone he knew. It would be so easy to do, even by accident, which was why he was so very, very careful about the few people he let into his range. The only people he let in his range were the ones it would hurt so much to send them away that it was worth the risk of hurting just to keep them near.

Somehow, he was sure there was something not quite right with that idea, but it was all he had.

"Let go." Cloud's voice was cold and flat, even as he flinched.

Sephiroth's answer was easy. "No." He kept his hand where it was. "I want you to stand still and explain why you keep flinching and running away from me."

The look he was given was one of confused horror. "You don't know _why_ I flinch? How about how what you did last time counts as an assault? Would that explain it at all? Now, let go!" He jerked at the door, and Sephiroth easily kept it from opening any further. In fact, he edged it just a little bit more closed. This was just getting more and more confusing.

"No," he finally said, "I do not know why you flinch. If I did, I wouldn't have asked. And you seem to have some misconceptions of what you think I can do if you seriously considered that an assault. What I did before did not injure you. To the contrary, you are the one who did the most damage to me."

With a disgusted growl, Cloud let go of the door and started to stalk for the kitchen. Most likely for the door out of that room. As if Sephiroth would let him leave that way after not letting him leave another. He would have answers.

"Fuck you, Sephiroth. You deserved it. Jackass!"

Well, that was a clear sign that Cloud had been hanging out with Zack. Only explanation for why he was treating him with so little regard. It was nice and frustrating at the same time. This time, he didn't let Cloud get far before being right on his heels.

"And how did I accomplish that? I kept myself very well in check considering the effects of the shot. I did not harm you at all."

"That was well in check? I had to hit you with a fucking _lamp_ to make you leave me alone! A lamp!" He was still a very unhappy person. Even Sephiroth could see that. He just wished he knew how to deal with it. This was why he needed Zack for this, but Zack had refused to help him, telling him that he needed to figure it out on his own.

He cared for Zack, but sometimes the man was just frustrating. This was all very confusing, and a little backup would have not gone unappreciated.

"The affects of a Mako shot," he started, in dry tones, "tend to have reactions such as the loss of control that are a great deal more violent than what you saw of me." He circled, cutting Cloud off from the door. "My intent at the time you decided to destroy furniture on my head was to calm you down, which you have yet to mention at all."

Something told him that he should not find the fact that Cloud was snarling at him cute. He really shouldn't. Cute was a word Zack would use and Sephiroth tried to keep things like that from infecting his vocabulary.

"Oh, yes, flinging me around and not letting me leave when I want to is calming. Right. As for Mako shots, do you just pick random people, or do you target your victims?" The blond backed away from him, glancing over his shoulder at the front door. It was irritating when Sephiroth realized that he was still trying to escape for some reason. Sephiroth had not and was not planning on hurting him. Why did Cloud insist on acting as if he was?

"I," Sephiroth growled, "was in the process of deciding to calm you down when you attacked me. I was also complying with your wishes to be released."

"That was a lousy attempt then," Cloud growled back as he started backwards for the door, eyes on Sephiroth. "I needed calm because you kept trying to undress me. Didn't ask or anything. Just grabbed me and started doing it without a single word my direction. What the hell was I supposed to do?"

"How exactly did you expect me to go about obtaining your permission? You were there. If you had bothered listening to the explanation, you should have known that implied consent." He could feel the muscles along his shoulders twitch. Why was Cloud so upset about this? He should have known all this already.

"What? What was explained to me? All I know is that you grabbed me and didn't ask. Would it have _hurt_ you to do that?" Suddenly he shook his head, and Sephiroth blinked. "No, forget it. I'm leaving." And then Cloud was bolting for the front door again. Sephiroth was not ashamed to say that he bolted after him, darting forward to slam the door shut before Cloud had gotten it open more than a few inches.

"No, I expected the shots to have been explained to you! I did not expect you to even be here. What was I supposed to think when I saw you were still here?"

Now it seemed as if Cloud was seriously eyeing the window. "I still don't know what the hell you are talking about with the shots." He started to edge towards the glass, obviously pondering his chances.

With a noise of pure annoyance, Sephiroth grabbed Cloud's shoulders and steered him towards the couch. The blond tensed so fast under his touch that he had to help the boy keep his feet. "Fine. Sit, and I will explain the shots to you."

"Let go. Please." The voice was rather strained sounding, and Sephiroth could feel the slightest bit of shivering under his hands.

"Not until I have your assurance that you are not about to make me chase you all through the house to keep you from leaving. I would very much like to have this entire situation cleared up. Now sit and I will explain what I can about the shots."

"I'll sit. Just…let go. Please." The tone was almost pleading, and Sephiroth frowned. He had not wanted to drive Cloud to that tone of voice. It was…disturbing for the boy to fear him on this level. Releasing him, he waved towards the couch. Instead of sitting there, Cloud slipped over and sat in the chair furthest from the couch, eyes wary as they stayed on Sephiroth. The older man was…less than thrilled at the near fearful attention. He got enough fear from other people.

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and focused, feeling a headache coming on. "What do you know about Mako shots? Anything at all? I'm not sure exactly what they teach the new recruits about them."

Tense as an animal in a trap, Cloud answered in a stiff voice. "I know they make SOLDIERs what they are. That's all we've been told."

He just stared. That…couldn't be right. That was sheer neglect on Shin-Ra's part….

"Nothing else?" The words just weren't being comprehended for a moment. Shin-Ra couldn't be _that_ stupid, could they?

Cloud shook his head a tiny bit, eyes dark in a pale face. He hadn't noticed how pale Cloud had gotten. When had that happened? "No, nothing at all. They tell us it's classified and that we can't be informed unless we are accepted into the SOLDIER program itself."

"How completely and unbelievably stupid... They should at least warn newcomers to avoid the SOLDIERs on days when shots are assigned, that's just common sense. I had been under the assumption that you would be aware that it wasn't exactly wise to be around me after a booster. Reflexes and senses are heightened beyond even the normally high parameters of SOLDIER norms for a few hours directly following a booster. However, at the same time, rational reasoning measures and inhibitions are dramatically lowered a great deal during the same time frame."

At least it was obvious that Cloud was listening to him. The blue eyes were narrowed as he was obviously thinking about what Sephiroth was telling him. "You're drunk." Eyes widen again. "You are drunk and you have heightened senses."

Not exactly, but as close as a non-SOLDIER was going to get, so Sephiroth just sighed and nodded slightly at that comparison.

Cloud's look turned to horror. "And they turn you guys loose?" Realization struck again. "That's why SOLDIERs never room with anyone other than fellow SOLDIERs. It's to keep people safe. I'm the only one…." A somewhat stricken look. "But why did you come after me? Was it just because I was handy?"

A scoffing sound. "I am not so indiscriminant. As I have said more than once, I did not expect you to be here."

"Where else would I be? You know I have those things Shin-Ra makes SOLDIER candidates fill out. Tons and tons of paperwork. And I didn't know what was going to happen." He frowned. "Why did you pick me if you were being picky?"

Scowling, Sephiroth stalked over and bent to look the boy directly in the eyes at close range. "I had thought you informed."

Whatever else he was going to say was lost when Cloud jerked back so fast and hard that he almost flipped the chair over. Grabbing the arms, Sephiroth slammed it back onto all fours and growled out "Stop that!"

"I'm sorry," Cloud snarled back, sarcasm clear in his voice. "Now I know about the shots. If that was the only reason you picked me, then it was because I was handy. Just let me go, and I'll know to not get near this place on shot days."

So it was as simple as that. His attention was not wanted. Stepping back, he nodded. "I have survived plenty of such days with no company. I did not mean to press unwanted advances on you. I apologize." Another step back, making sure that the other had plenty of space to move in.

Quietly, Cloud stood up and walked to the front door. He paused, not looking back as he spoke, hand on the doorknob. "You are not alone, you know that. Zack is here, and I am here, even when I'm scared half to death of you. As for the advances, the part that I didn't like was the not being asked. All I wanted was for you to ask." His voice dropped so low that even Sephiroth had to focus on him to hear it. "Why wasn't I good enough for that?" The door clicked open.

"I didn't know I was supposed to."

"Well, congratulations. You've just learned something."

Then he was out the door, and Sephiroth was alone.

Again.

Why did they always keep leaving him alone like this?

* * *

For a while, Cloud simply wandered, taking a long, meandering path to base and back again. It helped his temper, and let him sit back and think over the conversation with a bit of a calmer head.

Now he had to decide what to do.

Mumbling to himself, he ran through a few ideas mentally, making commentary on them in a low voice. "Okay, how would Zack deal with this? No, can't do that, he'd kill me before anything would be resolved. No, can't do that either, because I like living there. Oh, hell no, can't do that because I'm pretty sure that's illegal the world over."

After a few minutes, he sighed. "Looks like I'll actually have to talk to him after all."

With that, he started back for the house. It was dark still, no lights on in the front room when he returned, though he could see the kitchen was occupied. Taking a deep breath, he paused when he smelled that something had been charred. Oh, hell, Sephiroth had tried cooking. It was the only answer.

He slipped through the house quietly, though he knew that Sephiroth had to know he was there, and came to rest in the doorway leading to the kitchen. There he waited, and watched to see what the other man was doing.

At the moment, Sephiroth was standing at the far side of the kitchen, staring out the window, empty handed. Cloud coughed once, knowing Sephiroth already knew he was there, but being polite anyway. "Would you like some help?"

Sephiroth didn't look back. "I believe I managed something suitable on my own." Soft voice, as neutral as it could be. Okay, looks like they were both upset. Shrugging, Cloud moved over towards the refrigerator and started pulling out things for a sandwich. After a few minutes, it was clear that he was making enough for the both of them.

"You don't understand why I was so upset, do you?"

His eyes focused on the food and not on Sephiroth, he almost jumped when the other man spoke, but locked down the reaction.

"I did state as much."

A wry, almost bitter smile. "Sephiroth, excuse me for being a bit upset then." He took one of the sandwiches, and pushed the other Sephiroth's way. "Did anything I say earlier make sense, or was it all pretty much gibberish?" Let's see if any of it got through or if he'd have to start from scratch.

Collecting the sandwich, Sephiroth took a bite and chewed it slowly, obviously using the time to gather his thoughts. That was a clear sign to Cloud that, as upset as he as, Sephiroth was just as bad, if not worse. Interesting.

"I overstepped boundaries without permission and offended you." Another bite. "You will not need to worry about such behavior again."

Picking at his own food, Cloud sighed. "It wasn't the boundaries that bothered me. It was the fact that you didn't ask. That was the majority of it, really. If you had just asked, I…. I don't know what I would have done, but I don't think it would have involved a table lamp." An almost bitter smile, he could feel it on his lips. Still not looking at Sephiroth, he continued.

"Hells, I probably would have jumped for joy if you had expressed any interest in me." His voice dropped, and even he could barely hear the next words. "Probably still would."

Sephiroth made a scoffing sound. "Even in such a state, I would not have approached you if there was no prior interest." Glancing up, blinking, Cloud saw the other man remained focused on his sandwich.

"What?" He could feel that his eyes were wide. "You mean, I wasn't just a convenient body?" That…was a complete surprise, really.

"Had I not been interested in you already, I likely would have been intent on harming you, not…." He trailed off, focusing on his food once more.

"Oh." Sitting down at the table, Cloud sighed, and then took a deep breath. "I'm sorry."

Quiet. Glancing at the man from the corner of his eye, Cloud saw Sephiroth finish off his sandwich, then move for the door of the kitchen. "You have no need to apologize," the older man said. "You were not the one that erred."

"Now who's running away? And I can apologize if I want to." He focused his eyes back on his food, not sure if he wanted to see what the expression on Sephiroth's face was at the moment.

Another sigh. "Apologize as you wish, then, it is better if I do not stay and further upset you yet again."

"I should have known _something_ was wrong, and I shouldn't have hurt you like that. Well, okay, not sorry about that, you scared me. But I am sorry about afterwards and not being willing to sit down and listen to you."

He could hear Sephiroth's hair swish along the leather of his coat. "As I said, you have nothing to apologize for. It was my own misconception. I…. I would not want you to feel uncomfortable in my presence. I hope that you will be at ease around me again soon."

Gaaaah.

Pushing his sandwich to the side, Cloud began to thump his head against the table. Repeatedly.

After a moment, he heard Seph ask, a bit confused, on what he was doing. Stopping and resting his cheek on the table, he shifted enough so he could look at the man. "I'm trying to figure out how to make you listen to me, since I can't herd you into a chair like you did to me earlier."

A moment of quiet. "You did not ask me to sit."

Cloud valiantly fought and won the urge to roll his eyes. "Well, now that it's clear I'm the dumb one, would you please sit down? Please?" This was hard on his system, this ordering the General around. Yay?

Another moment of quiet, and then Sephiroth moved, dragging out the chair and sitting on it. He said nothing, simply looking at Cloud expectantly.

Shifting so his forehead was pressed against the table again, Cloud took a second to collect his thoughts before he started. "I thought I had killed you, you know. With the lamp. Thought I had somehow, with my cursed luck, managed to find the one weak point you had and knocked your brains out. I know, stupid thought, right? Me, kill someone like you. Stupid, really."

"I am not invincible, for all that Shin-Ra likes to pretend I am. I did not anticipate being knocked out either, though."

"It scared me. That really long, long second when I thought you were dead, it scared me a lot. Like nothing else had ever scared me before. And not because you are General Sephiroth, leader of Shin-Ra's military. Because I thought I had killed someone who I thought of as my friend."

He could _feel_ the stare.

"Well, _I_ consider you a friend, even if you don't think the same of me. And I was scared I had hurt you." He paused and tried to think of a comparison. "Imagine what it would feel like if you thought you had killed Zack?"

"I can't. It simply will not ever happen." A moment of silence. "I…did not realize you held me in such a high regard."

"I did. Still do, oddly enough. That's why I was so upset with what happened that night. You are someone I respect, someone who I look up to, and…it seemed as if you had no regard for me whatsoever. As if I was worthless."

Shifting so he could watch the man's face again, Cloud saw him frown. "Considering my state of being, I was being incredibly careful with you."

"I didn't know that, remember? I just thought I had finally reached the end of your rope, or that you had decided I needed to earn my keep, or that rent wasn't just money. Maybe I was just to be a convenience if you ever needed someone like that, but…."

Sephiroth actually looked mildly offended. "None of those were my intention, nor would they be."

Meeting Sephiroth's eyes, Cloud finally just asked. "Then what was your intention? Because I'm still confused on why you picked me, really? I'm not that attractive, or witty, or nice to be around. I'm sure you could have found someone better."

The look Sephiroth gave him wasn't pleased. "So you're demeaning my taste?"

A slow blink. "I'm what? Demeaning your what? How? What was your main intention?"

"I approached you because you were you. I would not have accepted a replacement for that. And my intention at the time was to be intimately close with you."

Oh. Ooooh. Cloud felt his cheeks burn. "Oh. I had, um, guessed that. The intimate part. But why me?"

"I thought the answer was obvious?"

"Not to me. Remember, it's already been decided that I'm the stupid one." He studied Seph's face, curious. "All you ever needed to do was ask. That was all I ever wanted. That's still all I want."

Now Sephiroth was the one who looked confused. "How?" he asked, studying Cloud back.

"How do you ask?" He couldn't mean that.

A slight nod.

Or maybe he could.

Okay, he could do this.

Forcing himself to relax a bit, Cloud stood and walked over to stand next to Sephiroth. Reaching up slowly, watching Sephiroth's reactions carefully, he cupped his hands around the older man's face. "Sephiroth, may I kiss you?"

A moment of stillness. "You may."

With that, Cloud leaned in and softly kissed Sephiroth. It wasn't a hard kiss, or a demanding one. Just a simple, soft kiss.

After a moment, Sephiroth leaned into the contact, hands in his lap. It was enough to send shivers down his back, and Cloud, after a soft sigh into the kiss, pulled back so he could look the other man in the eye. "That's how you ask. Any questions?"

Sephiroth hesitated only a moment then reached out and loosely caught Cloud's shirt. "Yes. Would you do that again?"

"See, knew you could do it," he said before leaning in for another kiss, almost as unsure as Sephiroth. This time, as they kissed, Sephiroth took more initiative in it, shifting so he was fully facing Cloud and pulling him closer. Cloud let him, almost purring into the kiss.

"See how much easier that is?" And how had he ended up straddling one of Sephiroth's legs?

"I think," the other man said after a moment, "that I much prefer this way." He rested one of his hands on Cloud's lower back, voice dropping and sending shivers up Cloud's spine. "Am I going to have to ask for every kiss?"

"Not for every kiss, but it's nice to ask occasionally." He paused and licked his lips. "Especially good to ask for first kisses."

The expression on Sephiroth's face was solemn. "I will do my best to remember that. Will I have to keep asking tonight?"

"Maybe once." Cloud smiled softly as he let his arms curl around Sephiroth's neck. Sephiroth's other hand joined his first on Cloud's back.

"May I kiss you, then?"

"All you had to do was ask."

* * *

Two long, long weeks, and he was home. Well, no bloodshed in the living room, that was good.

No Cloud in his room, or in Zack's room. That was bad.

But… Zack heard more than just Seph breathing down the hall. Creeping down that way, he peeked in.

Well, damn, the pair must have worked things out.

He stood there a minute longer, watching as Seph was curled protectively around Cloud, both of them sound asleep. And given Seph was just wearing his hair, and Zack couldn't see enough of Cloud to tell what he was wearing, he didn't think this was another Reno situation.

This was good, right?

Well, he would hope it was, and smiled softly.

It was about time. They would be good for each other.

Slipping out of the doorway, Zack headed for his room. It seemed a bit colder after what he had just seen, but that was okay. They would be good for each other, and that was all that really mattered.


	10. Book One: Chapter Four: Plans Begin

_September, 1994_

They arrived in Midgar and found themselves settled into one of the nicer suites of rooms that were in the main headquarters of Shin-Ra. Tifa had been in awe, having never seen so many things like this. Nibelheim was not known for the size of its buildings, or its level of civilization. Especially when the small town was compared to Midgar.

Nidara was used to the big city and the almost dizzying array of lights, sounds, and people that the city could produce. She watched Tifa's reactions and smiled, mumbling about what the girl might think of the city under the Plate. Completely different from what Midgar was above the Plate, but still some completely fascinating and unique compared to Nibelheim.

It took three days before there was a bit of an opening in either the schedule of the President or the newly installed Vice-President. Given how hard it was to get on President Shinra's schedule, even with Professor Hojo's assistance, Nidara and Tifa ended up meeting with Rufus Shinra instead, Vice President of Shin-Ra Electrical Company.

It had taken a bit of work, but they had been able to find decent clothing for both Tifa and Nidara that was rather classic and timeless, and to get them ready for a meeting with Rufus. The trip over had not been fun, not to mention the bit of recovery that they had to do in the days they had. The fire had been bad, and everything they had was smoke scented and filthy. So shopping had been required, and Hojo had listened to Jenova's wishes and funded, discretely, the shopping trip. The woman had looked at both Nidara and Tifa with her alien eyes and whispered to Hojo that they must look their best.

She did have a plan after all.

So, three days after they came to the city, and after a day of shopping to find proper outfits, as well as time to recover, Nidara Strife and Tifa Lockhart were ushered into the office of Rufus Shin-Ra.

In the pale room, the two women stood out, clad in the dark, rich colors of their clothing. That right there got Rufus's attention right away and more than one of his Turks wondered if that wasn't why the ladies had picked the colors they had, to stand out. Not the bright colors favored by the only other woman Rufus dealt with on a regular basis, but rich teals and burgundies. Things that really stood out in the white of the office.

From the look in Rufus's eye, he was wondering the same, and most likely applauding the move. It was an impressive and, most importantly, subtle play, and if Rufus appreciated anything, it was something subtle. Too many years being chased by people who were anything but, most likely.

So, after a moment of study, the man smiled politely, and Nidara smiled right back, just as politely.

Then the duel of words started.

* * *

He was also in the room, standing in the corner by the door, watching all of this quietly. It was at Jenova's request, though Nidara had also requested it, claiming that he was a familiar face in the city and she would prefer to have him nearby with such a potentially stressful situation going on.

Hojo wondered just how much control of Nidara Jenova had been able to get over the years. The woman had been injected with the cells at the birth of Specimen C, and had been living near the reactor for years. Hojo wondered if she heard the same whispers he did at times, he hear them even then as Jenova stared out from his eyes. She could not attend this meeting, but she wanted to keep track of how it was progressing anyway.

The more Hojo watched, the more he wondered what kind of prompts the ancient being was able to pass along. He knew she could pass pain and pleasure and speak in silent, slithering words. Knew all of that from personal, first hand experience. Now, watching Nidara and Rufus circle each other verbally, he wondered how much of it was the blond woman, and how much of it was the cells he had injected eighteen years ago.

Of course, Nidara was a brilliant woman in her own right, and had easily dealt with the rather swim or die world of the Shin-Ra long before the situation with her and her husband had come to Hojo's attention. Shin-Ra was not kind to its female workers, either. To be above a certain rank in the company, one must have a rather vicious and predatory manner, a trait far too easy to see in its few high level women. And the labs were even worse than the regular executive workers.

Still, watching all of this, Hojo had to wonder if there weren't problems lingering that he couldn't see. How could Jenova trust this woman, who was very capable of having her own agenda and plot in the making? It would be far too easy for the blonde to simply be playing along with Jenova just until she reached her own ends.

A brief burst of pain flared as Jenova sensed the tone of his thoughts.

_Do not doubt me. I am far betterwonderfulmore than any pitiful human will ever be, even one who carries me in their blood. I am better than you, I am better than her and I better than my children. All except Sephiroth. And this will gain me Sephiroth. Do not doubt my control or my plans. Even if I cannot be there in the flesh, I can control her if need be. However…she does admirably, for a human. Almost as good as you. _

Those words send a shiver of worry down Hojo's spine, one he concealed from the others, just as he had concealed the pain from them. He would _not_ fail Jenova, nor be the cause of any of her plans to fail. He would not. His goal was to prove to everyone else that he was better than Gast, and Jenova was a fine example of how foolish the man had been, abandoning something so wonderful for mere physical pleasure like Gast had done.

He would not.

Sending his apologies mentally, Hojo focused on the meeting again and watched the dance. Both players where experts. Even lab rats had to know how to get their needed supplies and funding, and Rufus had been trained by the best.

He did not know what to think of this, and the niggle of a doubt still rested in the very back of his mind, but he would not act on it. Jenova said that she had a plan. And she was the closest thing to being a goddess that Hojo had ever seen.

He would trust her, and be ready to aid her any way he could.

* * *

The meeting with Nidara Strife and Tifa Lockhart had lasted over two hours, and Rufus did have to admit he was impressed with both women. Tifa was nowhere as well trained at holding in her reactions, and that had given him some barometer of where to go, though Nidara seemed to have some idea of how the girl would react and always managed to offset it.

Given the rumors he had heard about the blonde having been a lover of Hojo, as distasteful as the idea might be, Rufus thought that if there was any training ground for learning to control what and how much you gave, it would be Hojo's bed. How the man ever had children, Rufus would never know.

And children were the rumor, as well. Everyone knew that Sephiroth was Hojo's son, and the idea that the man had been married was also something mind boggling. Especially to someone as pretty as his wife. However, after her death, there had been quiet until Nidara Strife had popped out of nowhere.

Like any good businessman, when the meeting had been arranged, Rufus had had his Turks quietly gather what information that they could find on Mrs. Strife and Ms. Lockhart. Ms. Lockhart was easy enough. Never left Nibelheim, was a pupil of Zangan, daughter of the town's now former mayor. All very simple details.

Mrs. Strife was completely different. Born and raised near Gongaga, she still had family out that way. She came to Midgar for schooling after passing aptitude tests, given to her by the reactor scientists at the reactor there, with amazingly high scores.

In school, she met her husband, Orrin Strife, and they married just before entering Shin-Ra's science sector. After several years, and several lost children, it was rumored that she had gotten pregnant with Hojo's by-blow. Interesting news, indeed. She and her husband had been assigned to Nibelheim, with her husband dying on the trip there. The child, just a few months younger than Rufus himself, had been born there, and eventually entered the military as a SOLDIER candidate. He had died on a mission two years ago, according to the files.

Now the woman had returned.

The meeting had been interesting, and there had been a great deal of back and forth. Then Rufus had left them and gone to a second, secret meeting.

Staring into the green, cat-slit eyes, he felt as if he was being watched by something that wanted nothing more than to eat him.

"Hello, Jenova," he said lightly, as if she didn't send shivers of fear up his spine.

"Hello," she purred at him. "I have a business proposition for you. I can get you the leadership of this company within days, with no cry of foul play, with no doubt that your father died of natural causes. And, later, I will give you the world to rule without having to hide behind your company."

That…was unexpected. And unexpected tended to have unusually high costs as well.

"I'll get the company soon enough, and I would rule just as easy through it as I would without it," he said easily. "Why should I pay whatever price you are wanting just for something that will be mine anyway?"

Lounging back in her chair, Jenova smiled.

"Your father lives as long as I will it. My blood runs in his veins, put there of his own free will. I am the reason he has lived for so long, and he will live as long as I let him. If I so choose, he will survive the next hundred years. Then you would never see the leadership of this company."

Those cat-eyes never left his, and Rufus almost shuddered at the predatory look in them. He hid it, though, and waited for her to continue.

"As for the company itself, how long would you rule if you didn't have it, hmm? What I offer is rulership, without need for such props and toys as this company. You would rule it with only the gods to answer to."

"And what," he asked just as lightly as she had given her answers, "is the price for such wonderful things, might I ask?"

"I want you to marry Nidara Strife. I need her in a place where I can put her to use, and the best place for that is by your side and above the pitiful rules you humans call laws."

Marriage. That was somewhat unexpected. "And why not to you?"

Jenova waved the idea away. "I do not wish to be in the public eye. But you need an heir, and I need her to have children." A slow, sly smile. "And you get your company without a hitch."

Rufus paused to think this over. There were pros and cons, but the pro side was winning. He already knew that Nidara was a brilliant woman for all her bias against people she thought slighted her. He was the same way, so he really couldn't consider that a character flaw. The larger concern for him, however, was the fact that Jenova seemed to have control of the woman's strings. He did not want a puppet at his side.

"I would not interfere in her life. My concern is the children," Jenova suddenly informed him, and he wondered how much of what he thought had shown on his face, or if she had simply guessed. Either way, it was somewhat disturbing that she had been able to answer the question so well.

It was all a matter of lose and gain. Nidara was still a very attractive woman, despite being old enough to be his mother. She was one of those who seemed to age more slowly once they hit their maturity. That was good. No questions on why he was marrying if he chose to do so. She was attractive, she was smart, and she was a proven breeder. All requisites for being the spouse of a Shinra.

He had nothing to lose, really, though he would have to keep a close eye on her.

"And if she says no when I ask?"

"She won't."

Well, he was starting to like this partnership already.

"When will my father die?"

"Within days of your wedding."

That, he decided, was that. "Deal. Just remember," he said with a sharp smile, "I have more power than you can imagine if you try to betray me."

"I will," she purred, smile as sharp as his. "Just remember that I am the same."

* * *

Reno wasn't sure what was going on, but he knew something was wrong. And he knew he wasn't the only one. Tseng was looking uncomfortable here and there, never in a really visible way, as things began to shift behind the scenes.

The biggest news was the wedding.

The fact that Rufus Shinra, heir apparent to the company that was currently ruling the world, was getting married was boggling enough. The fact that it was to a woman he had literally met just days before just added to it. Not to mention that fact she was old enough to be his mother. She actually was. It boggled _Reno's_ mind personally to know that she was Cloud's mom.

Cloud's mom was marrying Rufus Shinra.

Yep, still brain breaking.

Reno could see Cloud in her, and it was enough to make him grimace a bit when he wasn't being looked at. Didn't know what had caused this, but….

There hadn't been a courtship; there hadn't been anything, really. One day, she had come in and asked for aid for Nibelheim, and the next, Rufus and his father were arguing over the fact that he was getting married.

Still, as hurried as the wedding was being prepared, it was still _Rufus Shinra_ getting married, and there were all sorts of ceremonies and details that had to be done for it.

And, on top of all of that, there was a funeral.

Apparently, according to the doctors, the stress of all of this had finally made old man Shin-Ra pop something and he had collapsed in his rooms two nights after the wedding announcement. It was completely natural, which meant a lot of bets under Plate were being lost and paid off. Nobody figured Shin-Ra would go without someone assisting the process along.

So a wedding and a funeral. Sounded like a bad movie, actually.

Reno didn't trust any of it. Something was up.

Now, just had to figure out what was going on.

A lazy grin. Maybe he should go have a chat with that girl Cloud's mom had brought with her. What's her name? Tiffi, Tifa, Tipha, something like that. Pretty thing. Reno could think of worse ways to get information.

Whistling, Reno wandered down the hall. He was off shift right now. Might as well go have a chat with her now.

Maybe things weren't so bad after all.


	11. Book One: Interlude Four: Pt One

_1990/1991_

It was starting to look like a good idea to swat Cloud upside the head. And it only looked better every day.

He knew that his friend had gotten with the General. He was pretty good at hiding it, but Reno was at their house on a regular basis, and he knew just how the sleeping arrangements had changed. When he crashed over from time to time, he slept alone. Though it seemed that Zack was as well, and that just amused the hell out of him.

In the privacy of their own home, it seemed like the pair were making up for the fact they couldn't express any affection outside of their door. If they managed to get any more lovely dovey at each other, Reno was going to have to throw up.

Not that they were really -bad-, but the fact that Cloud would all but take over Sephiroth's lap, doing his own work for the upcoming SOLDIER exams, and the older man would look over the work as well, assisting where needed, hand petting Cloud's hair... It wasn't overt, but, damn, if Reno saw any more understated sweetness, he was going to get cavities. He had enough destructive, but fun, habits of his own. Didn't need sap-cavities on top of it all.

Though he didn't do more than tease Cloud unbearably when it happened, the blond would growl, and usually turn a shade of red that made Reno tease even more. It was a fun cycle that continued until Cloud pitched a book at him, followed by a tackle that ended up in a wrestling match on the floor. The first few times, Sephiroth had growled at Reno, only to be soundly ignored as Cloud had taken advantage of Reno's sudden freeze to give the man a good, hard noogie.

Reno learned -real- fast to ignore the growls. Cloud hurt when he gave noogies. Brat.

Outside of that, though, he wasn't really sure how to react to them. Cloud had been crushing on the man for so long that, if he hadn't seen them together, Reno would have thought that Sephiroth was just taking advantage of the fact. Hells, when he had first found out about it, he had been all ready to go tear into the man. General or not, nobody hurt his friend like that.

When he had seen the pair together, though, he had paused. There was a lot of underlying affection there. A lot. Enough that even he could see it, and Reno tried hard to turn off his people reading skills around those he trusted. No need for it, and he really hated picking apart motives when he didn't have to. Still, he was good at reading people, and if there was ever a pair of people head over heels, it was those two. Maybe not yet, but they were working on it. Sephiroth was more relaxed than Reno had ever seen him, and Cloud was just...bouncy. Something he took great pains to tease him about when he could.

Though it didn't seem as if everyone was really happy. Zack seemed to be more confused than anything, though Reno was sure the man was happy for his friends. And it wasn't as if he had really lost anything. As far as Reno could tell, the other two in the house were just as affectionate as they ever had been. Not that that meant much. Sephiroth always was a reserved bastard, and Cloud was friendly, but he always did seemed to hold back some.

So he didn't have any idea on what was wrong with Zack, though he made a mental note to ask, eventually. After all, he liked Zack, even if the man was a mama chocobo when it came to protecting Cloud. That was just as fine by Reno. Cloud didn't really need the protection, but Reno was a Turk in training. He knew there was no such thing as -too- much protection. Besides, Zack had always been friendly towards them, for the most part, anyway. Not Reno's fault the man liked Cloud better. Probably because Cloud was sneakier in his revenge on things. Appealed to the prankster instincts that Zack had in abundance.

It didn't look like Cloud or Sephiroth noticed anything wrong, though. Reno himself only caught it because he had spent a lot of time just watching the way the three interacted. Zack was hanging back more. Maybe giving them more room? Didn't seem like something the man would do. He was an attention hog. Part of the reason Reno liked him, really. So for him to not be making some kind of production over the two of them while it was just those who the little group trusted...well, it didn't sit right.

And Reno really, really hated it when things didn't sit right. Meant they might blow up. And Zack blowing up would be...well, not bad, but not good either. Especially if the man decided to start a prank war. Reno had heard about the last one. And how it took three weeks to get all the feathers out of the guns.

Nobody touched Reno's Mag-rod.

So, therefore, he had to figure out what was going on now before it turned into something like that. A SOLDIER-Turk prank war wouldn't be good for anyone's health.

Humming, he thought about who he could talk to.

Well, there was always Zack's girlfriend...

* * *

She hummed softly as she worked on her flowers. That had been a very...interesting conversation.

Aeris didn't often talk to Turks. Nor Turk candidates. Her mother would have a fit if she heard about this. She loved the woman dearly, but she didn't quite seem to understand that none of the Turks were really going to hurt her. Tseng had been a protector of sorts since she had been little, and that attitude had seemed to spread to the rest of the department. Especially as nobody wanted to turn anyone in to Hojo's tender care. The man was just wrong on so many levels.

The visit from Reno, though, that had been a surprise. She had half expected a warning to make herself vanish for a while. Tseng brought those from time to time. Zack as well. Those two seemed to have something of an agreement. At least after they had had themselves a doozy of a fight. Tseng walking in on Zack mock pinning Aeris had been a situation that was not the best way for either man to meet each other.

After they had gotten calmed down, and she had worked on patching everyone up, they had talked. Tseng had been abrupt as usual, but he had managed to get across the point that he would not endanger Aeris, and that Zack had better not, either. There had been some snarky comments back and forth, but they had eventually figured out that nobody wanted anyone hurt, and things had settled. Which was just as well. Aeris had been about to take a flower pot to both their heads. Men.

So it hadn't been a warning. Well, not one she had really expected. Humming a song she didn't really remember as anything besides this soft, wordless pattern of sounds, she buried her fingers into the earth, pulling up and separating plants as needed. That was the thing with her flowers. Let too many grow too close together, and they knotted around each other. For the plants, that was bad. They tangled so tight they strangled their own roots.

People, though, you tangle them together, and they seemed to get stronger. Funny how different people and plants could be at times. Though they could be a great deal alike, at others.

For instance, plants often did better if you had them near other plants. She could almost hear her flowers grow better when she added new ones to the collection. It was as if they wanted to do better when they had company.

People were the same way. She had worried about Cloud when Zack had first told her about what had happened. Poor dear, cut off from others and too wary in his own home to really relax. She had convinced Zack to bring him down here from time to time, but she had only got a little bit of time to talk to him. Between their schedules, well, it was hard to interact. He was a nice boy, though, and she was just as happy when he did come down. Once or twice, he had come down on his own, even. That pleased her, and they often spent their time talking about Zack. She had never pushed about Sephiroth, and it had been enjoyable for both of them, what little time Cloud could escape down here.

Now she wondered how things were going in the house. Zack had been just as cheerful as normal when he was down here with her, so it wasn't something that really, truly bothered him. If it had, he wouldn't be able to escape it. So it must just be during certain times.

He had seemed a bit more subdued when he told her that Cloud and Sephiroth had worked out their differences, but she didn't think he was unhappy about it. She loved him, but the man had been far too smug when that had finally happened. So that couldn't have been what had bothered him.

She continued to think about it, collecting water and sprinkling it over the flowers. She had to be careful where she got the water, as so much of the city was contaminated, but she did have a talent for finding a clean supply, and did share that knowledge with others, so she didn't even really have to go fetch it for herself, anyway. A few grateful parents always had their kids bring a bucket to the church. Clean water, good clean water, was a precious thing.

Had they changed their attitudes towards Zack?

Neither of them seemed the type, and if that had been the case, she was sure that it would be affecting Zack far more than it appeared to be. He still called them friends, and gave her news on them easily enough, sounding quite pleased by the entire situation.

"Hey, Babe."

Smiling, she stood up from her flowers and dusted her hands up. While she hadn't heard Zack come in, she wasn't too surprised. He had a tendency to show up about this time, so Reno lucked out by leaving when he did. "Hey there. Defeat more evil paperwork today?"

He caught her up in a hug and a kiss, then set her back on the ground lightly before answering. "Barely. It tried to eat my pen more than once. Really, this would be all so much easier if Seph would just let me set the stuff on fire." He made a face. "I would think it was some sort of punishment, but Seph has even more of it than I do. So, what are you up to right now?"

Moving to sit next to the greenery, she smiled up at Zack. "The normal. Making sure the flowers grow. So, how are Sephiroth and Cloud?" She watched him, seeing if anything in his reactions would tell her anything.

"Same old, same old. Still fluffy. Seph was helping Spike with his studying, which, as far as I can tell, is giving rewards for right answers." He grinned at her. "So Spike is learning pretty fast. Not that I blame him. That's a hell of a motivation."

It wasn't as if Aeris didn't know Zack had been sleeping with both men. It wasn't as if she could really argue it, either. He and Seph had been sharing a bed on and off since before she knew Zack himself, and Zack was just that kind of person. So full of love and affection that one couldn't help to be drawn to him. And she knew he loved her, and that was all she needed to know.

"Maybe if you ask nicely, Cloud will let you give him rewards for good answer as well," she teased. He huffed back at her, sitting next to her and looping an arm over her shoulders.

"Nah. They're cute together, even if they are slow asses on getting to that point." He gave her a squeeze, voice low enough she barely heard it. "Just vacating to let them have their time. They don't need me hanging around when they got each other to focus on for now."

Oh. Ooooh. Suddenly, it made sense on why Zack was acting around them the way Reno said he was. Her boy never did seem to know what to do when he thought he wasn't needed anymore. "I'm sure they miss you, you know? Not that I mind having you to myself all this time."

Another squeeze. "Nah. Barely even notice I'm gone. And I'm glad you enjoy having me here. I'd have to make puppy eyes at you if you didn't. I'd be inconsolable. Though I know the truth. You just want me around to lift heavy things and get stuff off tall shelves."

Patting his shoulder, she smiled brightly. "Of course, dear. Though I do find your ability to kiss quite enjoyable as well. But as you were the one to mention heavy things..."

He grumbled teasingly, but did go to do as she asked. And as she worked with his help, Aeris was planning.

* * *

When he had gotten down here, at a carefully sent request from Aeris, Cloud had not expected what he had gotten.

Well, okay, he did kind of expect food. Aeris had said he was too thin, and proceeded to feed him every time that he had seen her. Usually that required being dragged to her home, where he got to fidget under her mother's very disapproving glare while Aeris cooked. The woman, Elmyra, seemed to be calming down around him, which did make him happy, as he reeeeally didn't like being glared at.

And the talk about Zack's birthday hadn't been really unexpected either. He hadn't had a clue on what to get Zack last year, and while knowing the man for as long as he did had helped in that regard, it was still kind of hard. Zack was one of those people who seemed perfectly happy when whatever he got for a gift, but he didn't seem to really need anything, which did not help Cloud pick out a gift. He knew Zack would love whatever, but that wasn't the point. He wanted to get his friend and the first person he had ever slept with something that he would really, -really- like, not just something he would like because it was a gift.

Strangely, that did make Zack the easiest and the hardest person to shop for that Cloud had ever known.

So last time he had seen her, Cloud had asked Aeris if she had had any ideas. He didn't want to steal her gift ideas, but a suggestion or two wouldn't hurt, right? And she was a girl. Girls just seemed better at picking out gifts. He was pretty sure it was in their genetics, or taught in some type of secret girl ritual thing. He didn't know, and he didn't ask. Girls were pretty mysteries that he was just as happy to be confused about.

None of that was what had him staring at Aeris in complete and total shock. Actually, he was sure that why he was staring at her in complete and total shock was not why he was staring at her in complete and total shock. He couldn't have heard what he had thought he had heard. "You want me to do what?"

Aeris just gave him an innocent look, which set off even more warning bells in his brain. Aeris plus innocent look wasn't good. He didn't know why he thought that, just that it was a bone deep and definite feel. Instinct, maybe? Stories from Zack? No idea, didn't care, he was just afraid.

"I think you and Sephiroth should take Zack to bed for his birthday."

Okay, maybe he -had- heard what he thought he had heard. His response was a wonderful gurgle noise. Aeris only smiled brightly at him and offered more tea.

"Really, hear me out. He does care about you both. Deeply. And I get the feeling he's been feeling a little left out now that you and Sephiroth have finally seen the light about each other. We both know he would never say anything about it. He does care, and wouldn't want to hurt your feelings. But haven't you noticed how often he's been gone? His visits down here took a leap up, and I know he hasn't been down here as often as he could be." She paused. "Though now I'm curious on where he has been, as I doubt very much that he's been staying home that often."

The look she gave Cloud was expectant, and he felt the urge to squirm. Now that he thought about it, he realized that Zack did have an alarming habit of vanishing on them. He could only vaguely recall lots of "I got plans, see you guys later" variations. "He's been going out every day," he said slowly as he realized it. "I've been studying and..."

"Making happy kissy faces with Sephiroth." Aeris chirped that far too happily, and Cloud eyed her, feeling guilty now. "I don't blame you, you two are cute in my head together, and maybe I'll get to see it someday, but right now, we're talking about Zack's birthday gift. I love him, but Zack tends to over think things." A pause. "Sometimes. Not that you'd see much evidence of that at times, but he does try really hard to make sure the people he cares about are happy. And now that you two are being blissfully cute at each other, he isn't sure what to do." She handed him a new cup of tea.

"Plus, I get the feeling he's feeling slightly left out. I can imagine it's hard when two people who used to be your lovers are just about ignoring you now for one another."

Cloud's cheeks burned. He focused on the food for a bit, waiting for his skin to stop burning, and thought about it. It wasn't just that he was embarrassed by Aeris's rather blunt assessment of the situation, but he felt -guilty- over it. Because she was right. They had been ignoring Zack.

"I got to go," he said, standing and giving her a weak smile. "We're idiots, and I got to talk to Seph about some things."

Aeris just gave him a pleased smile, and Cloud couldn't help but wonder just why she had such a pleased look. His brain would probably boil over from the blush if he thought about it too hard.

Taking his leave, he walked quickly for the station.

He had some ideas he wanted to share with Seph.

* * *

Sephiroth didn't act with too much surprise when Cloud finished talking. The man just sat where he had been, staring at the meal that Zack had brought home before heading out. His friend had claimed to be going to his lady friend's home, but he always said that, and Sephiroth wondered where Zack actually was now.

With a sigh, Cloud poked at the take out, not really paying attention to it, at least as far as Sephiroth could tell. The younger man had a glazed look to his eyes that said he was a million miles away. "I didn't realize how much he had gone away, you know? He always seemed so cheerful about it, so I never thought..."

"Zack is good at hiding things when he wants to. Especially when he's trying to be nice to you. Which makes him all that more frustrating when you want to speak to him." He was thinking hard. "I know we did not mean to offend him."

"I don't think we did." Now Cloud was looking at him. "I think we hurt his feelings."

Now that was just confusing. "How so?"

Cloud shrugged, looking as confused as Sephiroth felt. "We sort of, well, just ignored him. I mean, not -totally- or anything. But I know I wasn't talking to him much. Not with the exam stuff going on. Mostly been doing that and spending time with you."

A nod as Sephiroth started to try putting pieces together in a form that made some sort of sense. "Do you suppose...he is under the impression that we do not wish him around any longer?" The idea of not having Zack around was simply inconceivable to Sephiroth, and he found that now that he had that idea, he really did not care for it. Zack was someone he did care about, even if he wasn't sure how to show that at times, and if something happened to the man, Sephiroth would make sure the cause of it was dealt with. Permanently.

There was a vaguely unhappy sound from Cloud after a moment. Sephiroth focused on the other, seeing a familiar stubborn look in his eyes. That was a good thing, and he gave Cloud a faint smile. It grew some as Cloud snagged and shoved the phone at him. "You should give him a call."

Taking the phone, Sephiroth gave his younger lover a slow, small smile. "I think I will."

Flipping open the device, he hit the number that would connect him to Zack.

He and Cloud had plans to make. But, first, to make sure Zack would be where he needed to be at the right time.

Perhaps, Sephiroth thought as the phone rang, he should call Aeris as well.

She would be sure to have some ideas on this situation.


	12. Book One: Interlude Four: Pt Two

Look, I managed a new chapter. Hope you guys enjoy.

This is one of my most popular stories on . I need to start chewing on you people for reviews. *is a review whore* Please review? It makes me happy.

**OGTOF: Interlude Four-Part Two**

The sudden tone of the phone startled Zack so much that he almost threw it off the side of the building. He had been holding it in his hand, but that was more so he'd feel it vibrate if he got a text. Reno had somehow dragged Zack into the middle of a dirty limericks contest between the Turks, and he had his phone to vibrate when the next line of text came through.

But the -call- section of his phone was still set to ring, and he had almost flung the thing away on instinct. Which would have been kinda funny, trying to explain -that- one on a expense report. Besides, Seph would never let him live it down. He'd only shake his head and give that little "What did you do -now-, Zack?" sigh of his.

Especially since it was Seph calling.

After saving the item from his own instincts, Zack gave himself a shake and answered. "Hey, Seph. What's up?"

"I was calling to inform you that you will have plans for your birthday."

There was Cloud's voice in the background saying Seph's name in a long suffering voice. Oh, so cute. He had trained the other well. "That sounds nice and formal. So, am I being given official duties and that's why Cloud's huffing at you, or are they going to be fun duties you are making sound like official duties and -that's- why Cloud is huffing at you?"

"Cloud is not 'huffing' at me, as you put it." Sephiroth's voice was still dignified, but Zack could hear the faint smile. Go him. He so won. "And in any case, Cloud has suggested a few ideas that we thought you might enjoy for your birthday."

"Well, you might have to run them past Aeris first," Zack said cheerfully, smile slowly growing as he listened to a scuffle on the other end of the phone. Hmm, wonder what set that off?

"Zack?"

Okay, and now it seemed Cloud had the phone. "Heya, Spike. What just happened?"

"I had to take the phone away from Seph. He refused to put it on speaker, and I'm the one with normal hearing."

A swat of skin on skin, and Cloud -growled-. It sent little happy shivers up his spine, but Zack sat down on his natural reaction to make a smart assed comment. No, Seph's boy now. Neither of them would appreciate it. Still, he was pleased. Cloud had just growled at Seph. So much better than a few months ago.

Then Cloud was talking again, and Zack listened. "Anyway, you said something about Aeris?"

"Yeah. You'd better clear any and all birthday plans with her. My girl might get grumpy if you guys leave her out of the loop."

Stretching back out, Zack tucked his free arm under his head, giving himself a pillow as he looked up at the sky. While the surrounding land might not be pretty, the sky wasn't so bad. As long as he looked straight up, Zack didn't see the glow of the reactors. All he could see was clear blue sky. Which was a nice soothing thing.

In his ear, Cloud's voice continued, though Zack could hear Seph grumbling in the background. Those two were just too cute for their own good. "Actually, Aeris is sort of helping us plan it. So she is in the loop."

In the back, Seph had to add his own two gil. "She's not in the loop. She -is- the loop."

Ooh, snark. Seph had learned well. Zack gleed at how well his lessons had been learned. Now, time to reap the benefits and watch Seph exercise that dry wit on unsuspecting management. It would be glorious.

"All right, then. As long as I don't have to look forward to no desserts and scowls because I went off and did stuff with you guys when she had things planned with me."

There was a vague sound in the background, and Zack paused. "Spike, is Seph...snickering?"

"Um...no. Not at all. Just swallowed wrong."

And Cloud was totally lying to him. He could hear it, even if he couldn't see Cloud. "Spi~ike, what's going oooo~oooon?"

"You'll see. For your birthday. Anyway, don't make other plans. We'll see you when you get home, right?"

"If you guys haven't holed up in your room again, yeah."

They'd been doing that a lot lately. And thankfully Seph's room had its own bath, or he'd probably never be able to get into there either. Still, he did miss seeing them, even if he was trying to give them plenty of time to focus on each other. Not to mention feeling like a perpetual third wheel when they started to be all fluffy cute. He'd spend more time with Aeris, but her mom kept popping up and giving him a look. Since he didn't want to cause issues between those two, besides the one he already was causing, Zack had found places to lurk besides home and his girlfriend's.

Thus, the inclusion in the dirty limericks contest.

There was a faint sound on Cloud's end, and Zack wasn't sure if it had come from Cloud or from Seph. He wasn't even really sure what the noise was, just that it sounded pained. "Spike?"

"We'll be out. Promise. Anyway, thanks for the food. Tell Aeris we said hi."

Which Zack would do. Next time he saw Aeris. Never mind that was where he was now, in theory. Theory was wrong about a lot of things. "I will. You guys make sure to eat. I don't want to come home to find that the food I slaved for by waiting all of twenty minutes in line go to waste. Got it?" His voice softened. "Besides, you and Seph have been running yourselves ragged. I need to buckle down and make sure you guys are taking care of yourselves soon, or else all my hard work will be for nothing."

"Corruption, Zack. Not hard work. The word you are looking for is corruption." Something in Seph's tone, which he could hear clearly past Cloud's breathing, made Zack frown. What was going on?

"In any case, we'll see you later. -And- we'll eat. Happy?" Cloud again.

"Thrilled." Zack grinned into the phone again.

"Anyway, later."

The phone clicked, Cloud having hung up on the other end. Pulling it away from his ear, Zack studied it for a long, long time. Hmm. He wondered what had triggered that conversation. It had been odd, even for Cloud and Seph, and they were the masters of odd conversations.

Something was up.

And he'd find out what it was. Eventually.

Actually, it sounded like fun, and he did make a mental note to turn down any invites he might get from his other friends on the days around his birthday. If Cloud, Seph, -and- Aeris were conspiring, it would be something he'd want plenty of time to sleep after. His girl was good at finding things that would cheer him up.

Ooh, maybe he'd finally get all three of them in a room together and they could talk. He'd been working hard at that, and it still hadn't come to pass, but here was to hoping.

Resting the phone on his chest, mostly to save it from almost being flung over the edge again, he tucked his other hand to join the first, pillowing his head.

He had sneaky methods of interrogation to come up with. Nothing simple would work on Cloud and Seph, after all. Thus, sneaky.

Grinning, he watched the blue of the sky as ideas tumbled around in his head.

///

Aeris was in a foul mood. Three days before his birthday, Zack and Sephiroth had both been called to a job in Junon. While not as far as some places, it might as well be the moon for all the ability Aeris had to get there.

Zack had been apologetic, and Sephiroth, according to Cloud, had been rather put out as well. Cloud himself had been quiet, and Aeris felt bad for him as well. She knew he had gotten the days off, approved by Sephiroth, of course. And now he was all alone. Hopefully, he'd come down, and they could call Zack together and wish him happy birthday.

Muttering to herself, she worked on her plants, putting her frustration to work mixing up the compost pile.

So when Cloud let himself in, she was a bit...mucky.

His snicker was her first clue he was there, and she gave him a glare. "What was that for?"

Holding his hands up, Cloud just smiled at her. "You're all dirty. Not seen that before." The grin brightened. "But you need to clean up. If you don't, we'll never make Junon by nightfall."

She started at him, eyes going wide. "What?"

The grin he gave her was pure Zack, and she couldn't help but grin back. "I got a bird. Could only get one, but she's a good bird, and we're both light. She can get us to Junon by tonight. And I know I got the next few days off." The look he gave her was hopeful, and Aeris considered.

She didn't -have- to go out, and as long as her mom knew where she was....

"We need to stop by my house, so I can clean up and let Mom know."

Cloud was nodding, and he was smiling, that sweet, bright smile.

Zack had such good taste.

The fact he had laughed at her state was totally forgiven when Cloud offered a hand to help her up.

"Let's go visit our boy."

His cheeks went red at her words, and Aeris smiled.

Okay, -now- he was forgiven.

///

"You are going where?"

Elmyra frowned at her daughter, who was packing in a hurried manner. Part of the frown was due to the Shin-Ra trooper who was currently in her kitchen. Aeris had been collecting dangerous admirers again. The rest was her daughter was going somewhere. Without warning.

"Junon. I told it was Zack's birthday, right?" A nod was Aeris's answer. "Well, Cloud is taking me to go see Zack. Isn't that sweet of him?"

Elmyra wasn't sure about that. "Are you sure it's safe?"

"Of course." A smile from her daughter. "Seph will be there, and he is very safe to be around."

Elmyra felt herself go pale. "Seph?" She only knew one person her daughter called by that, and every time she mentioned the name, her heart would stutter.

General Sephiroth. Shin-Ra's pet demon.

And now her daughter was going to meet the man face to face, all alone, surrounded by Shin-Ra.

"You aren't going."

Aeris paused, and she just looked at her mother. There was sympathy there, and Elmyra just shook her head. "I won't lose you to them."

"You won't." Aeris set down the bag she had picked up and moved over to hug her mother. "You won't be losing me, Mama. Think of it as adopting boys. Really hyperactive boys." She hugged Elmyra tight, and Elmyra clung to the girl. She had known that her daughter would grow up and fall in love one day, but not to a soldier. Especially not a SOLDIER. She never wanted her baby to go through what she had, and dating Zack opened her to that.

"Mama, I'm going to go. It's important. I love you, but I have to do this."

There was a steadiness to Aeris's voice that made the woman who had adopted her think of the girl's real mother. Even dying, the woman had had a core of strength in her, and it was easy to see it had been inherited.

"I just want you to be safe."

Aeris smiled at her. "I will be. Zack would never let me be anything but safe. If he needed, I think he'd take on Shin-Ra itself to keep the people he loved safe."

Elmyra sighed, and kissed the girl's hair. "Be safe. That's all I want."

With another hug, Aeris slipped loose, grabbed her bag, and headed down the stairs.

She was going off with that trooper, to see her SOLDIER.

Elmyra watched as they headed out out the bird, not moving away from the window, long after they had vanished from sight.

Her baby was growing up.

She's simply have to let go.

///

When they finally got to Junon, Cloud wondered if he was going to die of perpetual blushing. He had forgotten to factor -Aeris- into his plans for them getting to the town. Aeris, plus boredom, plus access to Cloud. That had led to a lot of teasing and flirting, and Cloud still wasn't sure how to really deal with that.

Especially the kiss when they had finally gotten there.

That had flustered him to no end. And Aeris had just smiled and bounced in place while he had fumbled his way through getting the bird settled at the stable they had gotten to. After he had gotten her settled, he ran a hand through his hair, and nodded at her. "We should call and let Seph know we're here."

She grinned more. "Yeah. Let's surprise Zack. Do you know where they are staying?"

Cloud nodded. Shyly, he offered his hand, smiling some as she took it and snuggled up against his side. "Well, then, lead on."

Pulling out his phone with one hand, he sent a message to Seph. Another habit they had picked up from Zack. Texting all over the place.

It only took a few minutes for a reply back, and Cloud grinned. "He says they are expecting us, and should have a key ready. Plus, directions." Studying them a bit, Cloud nodded, then texted Seph again.

_Aeris kissed me._

He was still conflicted over that, and didn't want to hide what had happened. Because if he did, bad things would happen. It was a given, knowing his luck.

This time, there was a longer pause between him sending the text and the reply. Long enough for him to fidget mentally, then Seph finally sent him a message back. Looking at it, Cloud blinked. Not the answer he had expected.

_Well, she does date Zack._

Cloud wasn't sure how to take that, so he just texted a question mark back. Aeris was looking at his actions, intrigued, but he kept her from seeing the screen. "Mine," he said, sticking his tongue out at her. They found the hotel the other two were staying in while he was waiting for a reply. Settling into the rooms, he grinned as Aeris poked around the room. He'd been out of Midgar before, but if he remembered correctly, this was the first time for Aeris. Letting her explore the rooms with a grin, he looked at the new messaged that appeared on his phone.

_She's friendly._

He could just hear the dry tone that was said in. When Seph commented about Zack's being friendly, he was talking about the fact that the man had three people he had slept with on a regular basis.

Had being the word they were there to fix. Poor Zack was never going to know what hit him until it did.

Though Aeris was there to help with that. If she didn't make Cloud fidget himself to pieces over it first.

_Mad?_

This time the reply was faster.

_No. Why would I be?_

Absently, Cloud wondered what boring meeting Seph was currently ignoring in order to have this conversation. Zack was probably so proud of them both. And highly curious. Which would make for a hyper Zack later. He always got active when he couldn't ask right away.

_Because we kissed, and she's not you._

_I didn't mind that you kissed Zack. Only that you wouldn't kiss me._

Cloud snorted. That had been a fast reply. Then he got another one from Seph, and it made him drop the phone for a moment. He had to rescue it before Aeris snagged it, and he huffed at her.

"Greedy," she said, sticking her tongue out at him this time. "I'm going to take a shower real quick." She bounced out of the room, bag in hand.

As she shut the door, Cloud looked back at the phone.

_I think Zack would be happy if you two kissed more._

Cloud wasn't so sure about that. Though...if this worked, it would be nice if Aeris wasn't left out. She was like having another Zack around. Plus, she was Aeris. It wouldn't be nice to leave her out.

_We'll talk when you get here._

And they would. Because it was going to be an interesting next few days.

Cloud smiled.

Putting his phone away, he went to find a phone book.

There had to be something here that all of them would eat. And it was Zack's birthday, so Cloud had to find something Zack really liked.

Then, present time.

Hopefully, it all went well.


	13. Book One: Chapter Five: In the Inn

**Chapter Five: In The Inn**

_October/November 1994_

It had been a positively busy day today.

Happily counting the gil he had made, the innkeeper was a bit surprised that there had been so many people renting rooms. Or maybe not. Shin-Ra had their tailfeathers all ruffled up, and had military people all over. And out here, more than a few people had things they wanted to keep to themselves, to not let the people in charge know all about it. It looked like a few more of those had been disrupted.

Okay, so maybe two rooms to three people wasn't all that much to some, but out here, they were lucky if they saw two or three people in a month, let alone in one day.

One had been that set of brothers. Both of them slim and on the shorter side, though the blond was definitely taller than his younger brother. Poor kid. Both of them were as pretty as girls, though the younger, his brown hair all shaggy and in those wide green eyes, was definitely girl slim as well. Ah, he'd bulk up when he got older. Shy kids, both of them. But polite. Very polite, and he wondered why they were avoiding Shin-Ra. Probably something to do with their parents.

And then there had been that young man, older than the two who had come a few hours before him. He had messy black hair, all pulled back and knotted out of the way. Kid looked positively wild, but happy. It was that cheerful nature that finally let him agree to rent the kid a room. Bright violet eyes almost seem to glow as the boy had basically danced in place happily.

Sometimes, he wished he had that sort of energy. Other times, it made him tired to just think about it.

There were a few other rooms, but nobody else came to rent any. It was a good day. Dining room full of people, good food cooking on the fire. Some guests to help things go a bit smoother in the gil department.

He didn't know about the two men who slipped in later, sliding in through a window left open, with just a bare flash of light off silver. Or that the energetic kid had waited until the place had quieted down, and people had gone to sleep, before moving to go knock lightly at the door of the first renters. He slipped in when the door opened.

The innkeeper was just happy to have guests, and was sleeping well that night. He didn't know that his guests were the entire reason that Shin-Ra was searching. All he saw was some good kids, just three of them, all of them male. None of them were wearing anything to do with Shin-Ra, trooper or SOLDIER. And he hadn't seen the war hero, Sephiroth, either.

Better for everyone, honestly.

///

Shifting some, Sephiroth watched as Aeris started digging through the bag she had been carrying. They had collected more things over the last week or so, just so they would blend in better. Just before coming to town here, he and Aeris had both made the sacrifice of cutting off their rather distinct hair. His more than hers. Not many people had silver hair. Which was another issue they were going to be dealing with here shortly.

He grimaced over that.

Another shift. It was odd, not wearing his leathers. It had taken a lot of work, but both he and Vincent were in more...regular clothing. Zack had "lost" his SOLDIER uniform along the way, selling part here, part there, and just throwing the belt into a river. Sephiroth had done the same with his. They didn't need anything that marked them as out of place, and people with Shin-Ra marked gear would stand out. And with the army searching for them, they didn't need to leave any more hints than they had anyway. Still, his leathers had been his for a long time, and it was hard to adjust to materials that were so very different than the well worn clothes he normally wore.

So, they were hiding. Which was why Aeris was hiding out as a boy. She and Cloud had played brothers to get this room, and Zack had gotten a second. It made good tactical sense. Spread them out some, so if there was an ambush, there was at least one group here to help out the other.

Watching the lone woman in their group empty out her bag, Sephiroth had to grimace again. Haircuts weren't the only thing they were going to do. If they could afford to deal with the complications, he would almost suggest that they get contacts. But SOLDIER eyes and contacts did not work well at all.

So it was down to this.

Hair dyes.

Another grimace, just at the mere thought of it. He knew it had been coming, but as long as they hadn't actually stopped like this, he could ignore it.

His hair. It was going to be pink. Of all things.

Aeris had tried to explain that they had to pick a pale color for him. Anything else would just look unnatural for him. So he was going to be some sort of blond. How a blond became -pink-, he didn't know. And Cloud didn't have an answer for him either.

Zack had tried to say it wasn't pink, but Sephiroth knew pink when he saw it.

Though he didn't know why he had to be the most ridiculous looking one of them all, he wasn't the only one who was getting his hair color changed. Aeris was doing something to bleach her's out some. Not to blond, but lighter brown. Cloud's was being dyed a darker color. Pale brown, if Sephiroth recalled correctly. He and Aeris were going to keep up the sibling game as long as possible.

As for Zack and Vincent, their hair was just too dark to do any coloring with without going to extreme bleaching methods first. Vincent had started pulling his back in a low tail, and Zack's was such a mess that nobody could tell was it was supposed to be. Aeris said she could so something, braid it so that it looked flat. He wasn't sure about that, but it had been faintly amusing to see their reactions when they realized that his hair spiked rather well when it was short. Not as much as Cloud or Zack's, but a surprising amount.

The smells of the dyes made his nose wrinkle, and from the looks the others were giving, he wasn't the only one bothered by it. Though it didn't seem Aeris was going to waste any time. She made Cloud and Sephiroth both join her, working on Cloud's, then Sephiroth's right after each other. As it was setting, she looked to Vincent.

"Come here," she said. Watching the man, mostly to keep himself from scratching his scalp off, Sephiroth was amused by the vaguely alarmed look Vincent suddenly took on. He did move closer, warily, as if Aeris was some sort of wild animal.

Actually knowing her, Sephiroth knew she was like a sort of wild animal at times. It was best some days to just let her have her way and not even bother fighting. Given the look in her eyes, today was one of those days.

"Yes?" Vincent asked after a moment, eyeing Aeris, then the box she was holding.

"Well, we can't really make your hair a very different color, but I want to try this red on it. It's pretty dark itself, so it might stand out. Just enough to put people off a little."

She was already switching gloves, and Vincent gave a faintly wide eyed look around the room. Cloud, who was settled next to Sephiroth, just shrugged. "You might as well. She'll make you do it anyway, and if you try fighting, it'll just end up with that stuff streaked all over."

Shirtless, Sephiroth shifted so his arm was brushing Cloud's, taking comfort in the contact. It had been such a long time that he was still finding moments just to touch. He had not enjoyed that time period, and he was still working on forgetting it. "He's right. Might as well get it over with." His own tone was dry, and he gave the older man a bland look. If he had to put up with pink hair, everyone else had to suffer as well.

Seeming to realize that everything was against him, Vincent surrendered his shirt and allowed Aeris access to his hair. While the colors were still setting, and Vincent had joined the other two, she went to work on Zack's hair. There was some hissing growls from the man as she managed to find knots he hadn't gotten out with the brush, and if Sephiroth hadn't been getting pink hair, he would have had a bit more sympathy over how tight Zack's hair was getting pulled back.

But, amazingly, when Aeris was done, Zack's head looked totally different. Everything was pulled down, caught in thin, tight braids that were clipped and folded under at the ends. If Sephiroth hadn't known the man, he would never have known Zack's hair was usually on end.

Then, finally, he was able to wash out his hair, getting the chemicals off his skin. Once Aeris gave him the okay, he was scratching as his scalp. Thankfully, this should be the only time he had to turn his hair pink. By the time this grew out, they would either be safe, or dead. Hopefully the former. He didn't want to be held up as dead with pink hair.

"Seph?"

Still scratching lightly at his scalp, Sephiroth looked at Zack, who was looking back at him with a rather amused look on his face. "If you come over here, and promise to not bite in a bad way, I'll help with the itch."

That got a half moment of debate, and he moved to sit in front of Zack, who was as good as his word, fingers working on soothing the itch. Cloud, who didn't seem to itch nearly as bad, just came over and rested his head on Sephiroth's leg, eyes shutting. He had been sleeping so much that Sephiroth worried. But for right now, he just ran his fingers along the former blond's shoulder and upper arm, encouraging him to rest.

In the bathroom, Aeris was working on her own hair, Vincent having been drafted to help her.

"We'll be safe soon enough," Zack said, as he worked on Sephiroth's scalp. "This is darker than I expected. More of a red than blond."

"It's pink."

Zack had the audacity to laugh at him, and if Sephiroth had been anyone else, he would have pouted. Maybe. Zack just leaned down and kissed his still wet hair. "It doesn't look bad on you, Seph. Makes your eyes look a darker green." It was a soft murmur, and the man knew his friend was trying to make him feel better.

Scowling some still, Sephiroth sighed. "It's pink."

But it would help them get away. So, maybe, he could live with it. Too late now, in any case.

Though he would make the others suffer for this indignity. And he hoped they realized it.

///

When everyone had finally been dealt with, Sephiroth and Zack had slipped back to the room Zack had rented, though it was obvious that Sephiroth would have prefered to have stayed there. But it really was safer if they kept a bit split up while sleeping. And so now Cloud was laying here, listening to Aeris and Vincent breathing. He wasn't sure if Vincent was asleep or not, though Aeris was.

He should be able to hear them. That he expected.

The fact that he was positive he could hear Zack and Seph as well was a bit of a surprise.

Though maybe he shouldn't be so surprised. How often since he had been in the labs had it been quiet? There were always voices murmuring in the back of his head anymore. Most of them were low, just a sound that he ignored. One was a bit more persistent. Singing about her children and how her good sons would come back to her. It didn't happen all the time, that one, but it rose up often enough that it was an irritant.

Reaching out, touching lightly on the ones he cared for, Cloud tugged on them, just a tiny bit. Just enough to catch a thread of "them", and pull it towards him. Shouldn't do any damage. He didn't think so, anyway. In a way, it was a connection that none of them would lose, and he would always have that thread to follow if he got lost in the voices again. Which was a scary, yet plausible idea. There was still so much that Cloud didn't understand about these things. He had never had a chance to just sit down and focus on it.

Maybe, once they were settled a bit more, he could talk to Aeris about it. She made the voices sing, so she had to know something about it, right?

Taking the threads, he wove them into threads of his own, working on building something to help protect him from the voices. To keep a shield between him and the abyss. No need to tempt fate, and Cloud had spent enough time being lost.

He was here, with them, and he didn't plan on going anywhere. Not if he could help it, no matter how seductive some of the voices sounded.

Now, once this was settled some, he would always have his family with him. With them, he would always be able to stay free. And, if it worked like he hoped, he'd always be able to keep them free from the voices as well.

It was an idea. Cloud had no idea on where it came from. But it was there. And he hoped it was correct.

His loved ones had come for him. He wasn't going to abandon them now.

No matter what he had to do.

Snuggling into his blanket, he let the murmurs that said "family" to him wash over him. Much better than random voices he didn't know.

Much better than -her-.

Shutting his eyes, Cloud finally slept.

///

Perched in the tree, Zack kept watch as the others rested. Cloud still needed rest breaks fairly often. Which Zack was just as happy to take as well. He was reminded a bit too much of Wutai.

Speaking of Wutai..... "We need to talk, you guys."

The others quieted down, and he looked at them. "We need to figure out more details than "run to Wutai." For instance, Seph is still pretty much wanted dead over there." A pause, and he sipped at a water bottle. "For that matter, so am I. And I find I rather like being alive. So, what do we do when we get there?"

There was a bit of a frown on Sephiroth's face. Apparently, he had been avoiding thinking of that. Or it really hadn't occurred to him. Zack knew everyone saw Seph as this great, all knowing general, but the man did have a bad habit of focusing on the goal, and not on what to do -after- said goal was reached. Not until they got to that point. Not that Zack was much better some days, but this was fairly important stuff. This wasn't just his life, or Seph's. This was for Spike and Aeris as well. It was their lives that Zack and Seph were gambling if this went bad.

"You might try going to the capital. Lord Godo still lives there, yes?"

The question from Vincent threw Zack for a bit of a loop. He hadn't expected much commentary from that direction. After a moment of thought, he nodded. "At least, he was still living there last time I was in Wutai." Which had been a bit more recently than Seph. "Why?"

Vincent nodded. "My mother was from Wutai. As as the Lord of Wutai, the man can bring you in as one of his vassals. You'll have to prove yourself worthy, but..." He paused, studying them. "They just fought a war. Fighters are most likely more scarce than you would think. To bring in not only fighters, but the ones who turned the tide for Shin-Ra...." A small lift of a shoulder. "The test, though, would not be easy. He would not trust you, I think."

Now it was Sephiroth who nodded, a slow shift of his head as he thought about it. "I would be surprised if he did. However, if we could convince him, it would be in our best interest. Zack, you had a friend over there, did you not?"

Zack wrinkled his nose. "Not so much of a friend as a personal leech. She's Godo's kid, though she didn't seem too impress with her dad. Don't know if it would do us much good." He went to run his hand through his hair, scowling as he hit the braids, then put his hand back down. "But I'll see if I can't get a hold of her. Have to find a phone, though." He smiled down at them. Good. Had people thinking about future things.

"So. Now is the big question. How obvious do we want to make it that we went to Wutai?"

///

The answer to Zack's question was apparently "Not very," Aeris thought to herself was she rested against the railing that surrounded the deck. She, still disguised as a boy, would have to head down soon to help cook food for dinner. But right now, she was enjoying her moment of fresh air. Up above, Zack and Cloud where both helping tie things off, and scrambling along the ropes as if they had done this before.

Which, she found out as they had bartered for passage, they had. Both of them had to get across the ocean to the same continent as Midgar somehow. And it seemed as if both had bartered passage for work on the way to join up with the military. While they weren't excellent at it, they knew enough to help out more than hinder, and the captain seemed pleased to have a few extra hands.

Poor Vincent and Sephiroth, on the other hand, had been stuck doing some of the nastier jobs that nobody wanted, but didn't take a lot of skills to do. Vincent had done a good deal of slinking around to find them a ship with a captain who wouldn't ask too many questions, and he had done a good job of it. But the passage over wasn't paid that way, and while they had the gil, it also gave the boys something to do instead of getting bored.

The jobs weren't too bad, though mostly they kept getting relegated to keep watch. It hadn't escaped the captain's notice when they had both spotted that monster long before the man in the crow's nest had. So that got them out of the fact they had to clean, even if the two watches they stood were incredibly boring to do.

As for Aeris, all she had to do was help cook one meal, and they hadn't even asked her to help do any of the other things. She smiled. It was nice to see people enjoy her food. Though it was still very odd learning to respond to "Boy" all the time. It didn't do a thing to cheer her up that it was so easy to trick people into thinking she was male. But then Zack would give her that look that made her feel all right again. Or Seph would wrap an arm around her for a momentary hug. The man was still so stingy with contact that she enjoyed those moments.

They were almost there, though. The night before, the captain said it would probably be one more day.

From there, it was two days of travel to get from port to the main city, at least by bird.

Once they hit the city.... Well, they would see when they got there.

Pushing away from the rail, Aeris headed for the door down, easily moving along with the sway of the ship.

This had been an interesting trip to Wutai, she would admit that.

She had never seen a sky so blue as it was right now. One day, she hoped she could grow a flower that blue.

Right now, though, she had people to feed.

Remember, reviews make me write more. Cause I'm a whore for them.


	14. Book One: Interlude Five

**May, 1992**

After Zack's birthday, they drifted into an odd sort of arrangement. Not that any of them really seemed to mind. After the initial situation, the four of them settled into a variety of groupings. For some reason, one everyone just considered as lack of exposure, Sephiroth and Aeris were about the only ones who didn't spend at least some time alone, and it showed in the fact that they were about the only ones who hadn't drifted into some sort of relationship.

Zack and Aeris were an obvious one, as were Sephiroth and Cloud. The birthday present had helped things when it came to Zack dealing with his former lovers, mostly by turning them from former to current. Now that the man didn't feel so much like a third wheel, he was home more often. Aeris was pleased, because it meant that Cloud was visiting below Plate more, and the three of them were slowly easing into their own relationship. At first, Sephiroth hadn't been sure, but then he thought about it. Zack was there as well, and he had come back to Sephiroth. The last little bit of worry faded when Cloud showed no hesitation with him, and Sephiroth was content to let things happen as they happened.

More time passed, and as things began to settle, all of them began to smile more, to relax, and to just be happy.

Which was what caused everything to go wrong.

///

Looking at the latest rest results, Hojo tried to decide on what was causing the feeling of discomfort he had. It had to have something to do with one of his projects, as he didn't care enough about most things to notice the sort of fine detail that would start this sort of unease. After a great deal of thought, and puzzling over it, he finally realized that it had something to do with Sephiroth.

His greatest project was acting differently than before.

Hojo had never approved of allowing the child out of the labs, fearing the contamination of outside influences would make him unwilling to give in to his mother when the time came. At first, when it happened under the President's orders, he had hope. Sephiroth did not fit in well, and was even more alone outside the labs than he ever had been while in. Inside the labs, he was surrounded by people who understood the more unusual terms he used, who understood why he was so fixated on being clean, as well as his apathy towards contact. As far as Sephiroth was concerned, the fighters he found himself involved with were a completely different species.

At least until that pest had cheerfully pushed his way in, smiling stupidly as he changed Hojo's project bit by bit.

Hojo -had- hoped to control that, to eliminate it once the war was over, because the war would end some day. Again, the President had interceded, wanting his little poster boy out for people to see.

So, gritting his teeth, Hojo had been forced to accept and deal with it. Even when Sephiroth had the audacity to not only ignore the orders to continue to live in the labs, but instead moved out, -living- with that annoying child.

If there was anyone in the entire military that Hojo would have gladly killed, it would have been that SOLDIER. Zack whatever his name was.

But, now it seemed as if there was another issue all together.

It had been a bit since he had checked on Sephiroth's living arrangements, but it was something of an ill-tasting surprise to find out that, not only was Sephiroth living with that SOLDIER, but they had added a low level trooper as well. Surely this was the other man's fault, but Hojo wasn't sure it had not had some adverse affect on Sephiroth. The oldest of the three was acting differently than he had before, and it was beginning to affect his testing results. The most worrying aspect of this was what affect it would have over the overall plan. Hojo had created an environment where Sephiroth would feel isolated, uncaring about the humans that surrounded him. When the time was right, he planned on introducing the boy to his mother, and watching the final stage of his project come to completion.

Right now, though, he was going to have to deal with some serious complications in order for the plan to go properly.

It had taken a bit to get the information, but now Hojo was looking at the trooper's file. When he had opened it, he hadn't been expecting much of use, but ended up stalling out, eyes skimming over the first few lines over and over again.

Cloud Strife.

Parents

Father: Orrin Strife

Mother: Nidara Strife

One of his old projects, come to life. It seemed that the flags he had put on the file had not gone off as he had planned, so he had no idea that this particular child had joined the military.

What an interesting surprise.

Smiling faintly, Hojo settled back in his chair.

Well, now, this put a whole new spin on things.

///

All of them were a bit fidgety. Cloud and some of the others were due up for their SOLDIER exams when they got back from this mission, and they had been more than a little jittery about what would happen once they were done.

Thankfully, the monster that they had been sent after wasn't too bad, though Cloud was sure if it had been, they wouldn't have sent a group of regulars in, even if most of them were going up for their SOLDIER exams. They would have sent SOLDIERs proper, and given that Seph hadn't said anything about it being even mentioned to him as the one in charge of SOLDIER, it was safe to say that it wasn't too pressing. Just something to be dealt with before it required SOLDIER intervention.

Still, Cloud was happy when he and the others were able to drag it back to the town. He wanted to get a bit of last minute study in, and knowing Zack, that would be a hard thing to snag. His friend/lover person seemed to believe greatly in the idea of relaxing some before anything major. Which meant he'd probably pester Cloud until he agreed to lay off the studying a bit. Or until Cloud got Seph to intervene. Whichever came first.

The man they were reporting to just looked over his notes, taking their names down and jotting something next to them. He seemed to be highly uninterested, but given how bored the others loitering around seemed to be, Cloud guessed that they didn't get excited about much. They had the look of long-term regulars, who either hadn't tried for SOLDIER or who hadn't gotten in, and were perfectly happy about doing just what they were doing. Which seemed to be a lot of nothing.

He hoped he never had a job that boring. It was bad enough doing guard duty in Midgar, let along the middle of nowhere like this place.

"Says here you guys need to take it to the lab. Seems this one has something the docs want to look at."

Another bout of fidgeting, and Cloud traded looks with the others. A few looked really put out, and he couldn't blame them. They -all- had things they'd rather do.

"Might as well get it done," muttered one, Reeys, Cloud thought. With that, the group all grabbed a hold of the thing and started pulling it along yet again. It was -heavy-, and they weren't too thrilled about the concept of having to pick it up. Cloud was fairly sure it had been one of those gargoyle things at one point in time.

Though he was so going to have to tease Zack about how dinky Gongaga was next time he saw him. It wasn't quite as bad as Nibelheim, but it was close.

With a lot of hauling and pushing, and no few strings of cussing, they managed to drag it into the room they had been directed to.

Then the door shut behind them.

All of them started when the door clicked shut, and the one nearest tried to open it.

From there, things got a bit fuzzy. Cloud was sure that he heard something hiss, and there was an odd smell in the air. Then everything faded.

When he woke up, he struggled a bit, trying to piece together coherent thoughts. Though it worked much better once he realized that he was strapped down, and that he was rather naked.

That made his cheeks heat up, but also scared the shit out of him.

He was in the lab still, and he didn't see any of the others. He didn't see anyone, actually, though it was really hard to look around with the strap that ran across his forehead.

This wasn't good. Not at all.

"This," came a cool voice, "will be interesting. I'll finally get to see what has fascinated Sephiroth so, and to see how things have developed since I last saw you."

The pit of Cloud's stomach turned icy as Hojo stepped into his view, smiling.

Oh, hells. Seph was going to shit a brick.

///

She woke up, panting and sweating, fingers curled tight into the cover of her bed.

Aeris didn't know -what- had woken her up, only that it had been...horrible. A twisted nightmare, full of pain and rage and so much fear that she could still taste the bitter swell in her mouth. It just barely covered the taste of bile, but she could feel that, sickly sweet and burning in the back of her throat. She hated being ill, hated it with a passion, and she'd gladly take being sick over having those dreams again.

She couldn't remember what they were, not in the least, not that she wanted to. There was something familiar to them, though, something she couldn't quite catch. That rage, though, that was something that bordered on the edge of sanity, black and violent, and ready to lash out.

Unaware of what she was doing, she started and almost dropped the PHS she had already picked up as it started to ring. She didn't remember reaching for it, but it was Zack on the other end, and she quickly opened it and pressed it to her ear. Shivering, cold, she swallowed hard. "Zack?"

"Oh, thank god. I wasn't sure if you, Seph, -stop- that, if you would pick up. I know it's really late but...." A pause, and the sound of something crashing, Zack yelling something at Sephiroth, made her press her ear tight to the sound, wanting to hear more. "Aeris, I need your help. I know you don't want to come, but...please. I need your help. Do you remember where I said I lived?" Something else crashed, and she could hear Sephiroth yelling in the background.

Zack's voice was frantic and worried, and Aeris felt something go tight in her chest.

Seph, Zack, her. There was only one person that they cared about that was unaccounted for.

"I'll be up as soon as I can. Keep him there."

"I'll try. Thank you."

The line went dead, and Aeris scrambled out of bed. Pulling on clothing, she scribbled out a quick note for her mother and left it on the dining room table. She was going to be furious, but Aeris didn't dare wake her. She knew the woman would try forbidding her going up Plate, but there wasn't time. Sephiroth was going ballistic up there, and Zack needed her help.

If nothing else, she was handy with a Sleep spell.

Slipping out of the house, she ran.

///

With a hiss, Zack ducked down as another lamp busted. They were going to have to buy new ones here shortly.

"Let me out, Zack. You -know- Hojo had something to do with this. I'm going to go talk to the man."

The glow of green was brighter than Zack had ever seen, and there was something feral and untamed in those eyes. Zack didn't care.

"Seph, I know he had something to do with this, but I'm not letting you out of here when you are acting like this. We know Cloud isn't dead, and I refuse to believe he will be anytime soon. So sit down and calm -down-."

Another snarl, and Seph paced back and forth like an angry cat, eyes never leaving Zack. "I don't understand how you can say that, Zack." A snarl. "Are you on his side? Did he offer you something you wanted and you just handed Cloud over to him? Is that how this is?"

Zack's eyes narrowed, and he glared back at his friend. "I know you are upset, so I'm going to pretend you didn't say that, Seph. No, I'm never going to be on Hojo's side for anything. But if you go out like this, he's going to have just what he wants. A reason to have you locked up. I don't want that. We need you free and able to do what you can."

A low growl. "What I can do is go and break Hojo's limbs until he tells us where he's got Cloud."

Sephiroth moved forward again, and Zack had to dance to the side to intercept him.

He forgot how strong his friend was at times, though, and was abruptly reminded of that fact when his back hit the wall. Hard. Something cracked, and he was fairly sure that it was something in the wall, not him, though there was a definite throb of something out of whack.

After this was all over, Zack was going to spend some time practicing. Ow.

Didn't stop him from grappling with Seph some, tangling with him as best he could, trying to keep Seph from getting out of the house. Maybe Aeris could talk some sense into him while Zack just held on.

And...ow....

Dazed, clinging by sheer force of will, Zack tried to get a hold of the arm he had lost his grip on, before Seph used it to slam Zack's head into the wall again.

There was a sudden wash of green, and Zack took a deep breath as the look in Seph's eyes went dazed, and then slowly faded into sleep. Catching the man as he went limp, Zack slid down the wall, arms wrapped tight around Seph. Glancing over the man, he gave Aeris a weak smile.

"Hey, Babe. Glad to see you."

"You know me," she said, trying for perky, reaching strained, "always riding to the rescue."

"Well, come rescue me from being under his heavy ass. Then we're going to hide that sword of his and make him listen to us."

A moment of quiet, and he looked at her, tired and desperately wanting a potion.

"He's gone, Aeris. They took Cloud."

"I know. And we're going to take him back."

///

Head aching, Sephiroth laid where he was for a long moment, trying to sort out hazy thoughts, which worried him. He did not wake up -hazy-. It wasn't safe, in the war, or in a house with a bored Zack. Though with Cloud, he was a bit more....

Cloud!

Sephiroth sat upright, and found himself looking at a rather blank faced Zack. "Zack, Cloud...."

A grimace. "Gone. But," he held up a hand, pressing it against Sephiroth's chest, "-but-, we're going to get him back. So, please, try not slamming me into another wall and running off like a green recruit. Please?"

Oh. That.

Feeling almost sheepish, thought still frustrated and furious that Hojo had touched -his- Cloud, Sephiroth scowled. "He took him, Zack. We have to get him back." Better than anyone, Sephiroth knew what might be happening, knew that Hojo couldn't not test on something that interested him, be it animal or human, and just how -bad- some of those tests got. He wanted Cloud back in one piece, and relatively sane. "You know he has him."

"I do. I also know that he's probably surrounded by Turks, ready to have you placed back into the lab if you show any signs of aggression." Firm tone there, and Sephiroth sighed, having to agree, at least mentally. It did sound like something Hojo would do. Which meant Zack had done the right thing. But, still....

"We need to find him."

"And we will." Aeris came into the room, holding a few glasses. One was passed to Zack, along with a kiss on his head, and the other to Sephiroth, and he blinked a bit as he got a kiss on the head as well. "Drink, both of you. Then, we can figure out what we can." She looked at Sephiroth, settling herself on the foot of the bed. "So, you know him best. Where would he hide Cloud?"

Sipping at the drink, cold and sharp, some sort of citrus juice, Sephiroth turned his thoughts to that problem. Unfortunately, he did know Hojo, and that meant there were probably more places than anyone realized where he could hide one blond regular. "The obvious place would be Midgar."

A hum from Aeris, and she tapped her chin with a finger. "He does seem to prefer to have some projects here. You were here, and it's where he kept Mother and I."

Both men looked at her sharply with -that- sentence, but she didn't meet their eyes. Now wasn't the time, but Sephiroth filed it away to talk with her about. Later. And he was sure that Zack was doing the same thing.

"Midgar is too obvious, though. Everyone knows he doesn't leave here very often, so that most of his most frequently tested on subjects are here," Sephiroth continued. "We should also discard any labs near Gongaga. That's where Cloud vanished, so he wouldn't be there still."

There was a bit of a wicked, if tired, smile on Zack's face. "So we'll search there."

Sephiroth shook his head. "Too obvious to anyone who really knows him. He'll have Cloud tucked away where he isn't in easy range, or someplace that is easily observed."

A chuckle from Zack. "I know. But while we are searching there, in a horribly sneaky, if easily noticed way, we'll keep his attention on those labs. And any other open secret "secret" labs." Zack gave a wry smile. "He thinks I'm dumber than a box of rocks, which is rather funny if you think about the scores needed to become a First Class, and that I have a rather horrible effect on you, Seph."

Sephiroth reluctantly had to agree with Zack's theory. Hojo was going on about how much of a bad influence Zack was, and dropping heavy hints of having him transferred. Which he could theoretically do, but nobody who had the rank to override Sephiroth on that matter felt like dealing with the consequences if they did transfer Zack without Sephiroth's permission. Not that Sephiroth planned on giving said permission, and he made it perfectly clear that anyone who did do anything of the sort would have him to deal with. And there were so many ways he could make people's lives a living hell. Even the President.

"So we look in the obvious places," Sephiroth said slowly, "and keep an eye on the paperwork, because even Hojo needs to deal with paperwork for funding and such."

A bright smile. "And while we are looking at the obvious and obvious to you places, we'll be checking out all the places we can find through everything else. I bet Reno will help."

Aeris chuckled. "I can ask Tseng. He still scowls at you from time to time, Zack, but he does think of you as a friend. Me as well. He'll help, as long as we don't endanger Rufus or the President while doing so."

"It'll be better this way, Seph. For us and for Spike."

Zack's words were cheerful, but Sephiroth could see the darkness in his eyes, and Sephiroth was forced to agree. If they were too obvious, and too quick, Hojo would have Cloud destroyed. He might want to test on Cloud, but if it came to destroying the evidence or giving his enemies a potential reason for coming after him, he would destroy the evidence.

That simply wasn't going to be allowed.

So, as much as it galled him, Sephiroth forced himself to take a deep breath.

"All right. We need to organize this."

"First, you both need to sleep." That was from Aeris. "It's the middle of the night, and you are both stressed. Sleep, and then both of you come down to the church in the morning. We can start planning there."

The look she gave them told Sephiroth that she very well might go for that Sleep again, and he didn't think he'd like that. "I...."

Zack cut in. "I'll walk you back to your house, Babe, though I know your mom will be awake and ready to shoot at me because we're out together at this time of night."

Getting a snort, Aeris just shook her head. "I left her a note that there was something of an emergency, and that I'd be up here for the night possibly. You, lay down right now."

Sephiroth realized that she meant for Zack to lay down in his bed. Which wouldn't be the first time that he'd shared with the man, but....

"Trust me on this, Sephiroth. Having him here will help." Her tone was soft, and then she smiled and bounced to her feet to help manhandle Zack onto the bed. Then she made -herself- comfortable on the other side of the man from Sephiroth. Both men blinked at her, and Aeris gave them a slightly watery grin. "I don't want to sleep alone, either."

After a long moment, Sephiroth shifted to give them all a bit more room, and then reached out and turned out the light.

Tomorrow, they would start hunting for Cloud.

Curling up against Zack's warmth, he shut his eyes. He was a soldier and a SOLDIER. Sleep was important, and he had learned to take it when he could. Would need all his energy to find Cloud as quick as possible, and then work on breaking Hojo.

Cloud would be okay. He'd -have- to be. Or Sephiroth was going to show Hojo and Shin-Ra just why it was a bad idea to hurt his people.

///

"We found him."

The words echoed through Aeris's ear, and she gripped her PHS tighter. "Really?"

"Yeah. One of our friends found the latest lab requisition report. We're going. Tonight."

"Coming here?"

"Yeah. We'll bring supplies. Are you sure...?"

"Yes, dear. I'm coming. You need me, and he needs me."

"We'll be down tonight. After dark."

There were a few more moments of conversation, and when Aeris hung up, she steeled herself.

Now, to have the worst conversation of her life.

She went to tell her mom what was going to happen, and to say goodbye.

Though, she still had a smile.

They found Cloud. Time to go rescue him.


	15. Book One: Chapter Six: Sanctuary

**Chapter Six: Sanctuary**

_November 1994_

She had been waiting, lurking in the trees. Had been a lot of work to get away from her guards, but she had been doing that since she was seven. She was the great ninja Yuffie, after all. And today, she was on a mission.

The text just a day ago had been unexpected. She hadn't heard from the one Shin-Ra man that she liked in almost a year, but she did know that something big was going on long before he contacted her. Her dad had been closeted with his advisors for a bit, and they had been going over spy reports. Including one that Sephiroth had vanished from Shin-Ra. True or not, it had represented an opportunity. They had been waiting for more information before deciding anything, but Yuffie knew that if Sephiroth had left Shin-Ra, the main reason that Wutai lost would be gone. So she was all for him leaving.

Then Zack had sent her a message. She hadn't recognize the number, but he called her Treasure Princess, and only one person knew that nickname.

So here she was, waiting and lurking, hoping to see them soon. The birds she had liberated where on a farm near here, so all she had to do was wait.

It was going to be good to see Zack again. He had a way of getting all the good stuff, and she knew she was good enough now to get it away from him. Besides, she had missed him. He had spent more time with her than some of her family, and had been...nice. He had protected her, even when he didn't have to. While Yuffie wouldn't admit she couldn't take care of herself, she had been happy for that. It made her feel good to know that someone was like that for her even without knowing who she was. Though he had eventually figured it out, but he never changed how he acted with her, even if she was the Princess. She had appreciated that.

Now, it was her turn to help him. He had said they were running from Shin-Ra, that the company had hurt someone he cared for a lot. And that he -trusted- in her, and knew she could help. Heady stuff for an young girl. Especially from a cute older guy. And Yuffie remembered how cute he was, even if it had been a few years since she had seen him.

Movement caught her attention, and she noticed a dark haired man walking down the road. The hair was flat, and the clothes were different, but she still recognize him. It was all in the walk and the eyes. Even from here, she could see that they were unusual. Wutian ninjas were well trained in spotting that glow. Waiting, she lunged at him as he got close, giving out a battle cry that might have sounded a bit like a squeal of joy.

Zack started, but he caught her easily, and Yuffie wrapped him in a full body hug. "It's you! I can't believe you're here and not hiding better. Dad still wants someone to kill you, but nobody is going to get me to stab you in the back. What did you do to your hair? How did you get it to lay down like that? Magic? It would probably take magic and -glue-." Mouth going a million miles a moment, she huffed when he began to laugh and gave her a hug back.

"It's good to see you as well, Yuffie." He rested a hand on her head. "Everything going okay for you?"

She was about to answer when she caught movement from the corner of her eye, and Sephiroth seemed to melt out from the trees around them. There were others, but she was focused on Sephiroth. Sort of. She managed to squirm around so she was on Zack's back, and he was between her and the...pink haired man.

Eyes going wide, she began to laugh. The great warrior Sephiroth, Demon of Wutai, had -pink- hair. Still clinging to Zack, she pointed at the tall man and managed to get out the word "pink" between fits of giggles.

"I told you it was pink," was all Sephiroth had to say.

~/~

However Godo had expected his day to go, this was not it. They knew that Shin-Ra was hunting for Sephiroth, finally having gotten the reports back from more spies. It was kept quiet, but Shin-Ra had lost their prized little fighter. That had been excellent news. Nobody knew where Sephiroth had gone, though, and that was not so excellent news. A fighter of that caliber was not something that one wanted running around without anyone knowing where he was. A few discreet inquiries said that Sephiroth wasn't the only one missing, either. Another of their 1st Classes was gone as well. Godo remembered the man. He had lead several slaughters in Wutai, including almost an entire fort full of ninjas. Though he wasn't sure what to think of that one. He never touched civilians, only the ones who attacked him first.

Still, that meant there were two of the best fighters of Shin-Ra's super elite SOLDIER program were missing, and he had no idea where they had gone. Though it seemed as if Shin-Ra didn't either. Well, good. They could look for them all they wanted, and he could concentrate on figuring out what he could offer them to get them to stay away from Shin-Ra. Had no desire for them to return, and if they were out of the way, he might be able to fully start the rebellion and throw Shin-Ra and their greedy fingers out of his country.

He had not expected to have one of the messengers run into the room as if he was on fire and stand there, panting for a moment, obviously trying to calm himself. Then he looked at Godo, eyes wide.

"Princess Yuffie has captured Sephiroth and four others."

Oh, he had to be kidding. "What?"

"They are heading this way. She's...riding on one of them." The messenger shook his head. "Sephiroth had made some effort at hiding who he was, but some of the ninja recognize him still."

"Of all the..." He shook his head. "Call in my guard, and let the others know to not start a fight. Bring them here, and we'll figure out what to do from there."

The man nodding, and went out. This once, Godo would forgive the rather frantic face the man had presented. It was General Sephiroth, the Demon of Wutai himself, being walked up the main street. Godo was surprise he wasn't hearing more panic in the streets. Though why...

Godo suddenly smiled. He knew why Sephiroth was here, and he had a good idea of who his daughter was forcing to carry her. She wasn't nearly as sneaky as she thought, especially when she was younger, and he had the reports of her interaction with that SOLDIER.

So they came here for sanctuary. In giving it, he knew it would be an overt challenge to the rule Shin-Ra thought they had here, and war would start earlier than later. It would be dangerous to do, especially as they weren't ready for it yet. However, the opportunity to gain such powerful fighters, well...

Two SOLDIERs. With two, his scientists might be able to find out the method of how they were created. Or at least get an idea of where the notes might be for the process.

He would have to come at it carefully. Nothing forced, as much as he wanted to have it now, he knew if he angered them, those two alone could do massive damage to his power structure here. And the last three, he had no idea of what they were capable of. But a barter and trade...well, he could do that. They were bringing war upon his country if he allowed them to stay. They had better do their best to make it worth the risk.

Smiling, Godo gestured for another of his messengers to come to him, absently making sure that Leviathan was in the proper spot. He had people he needed gathered, and plans to quickly put together.

~/~

This was hard.

Walking through the main city of Wutai had been hard as well. Getting through Wutai had been difficult, but Sephiroth had kept away from most people. Zack had blended in to a scary degree, and he never realized just how much his friend looked like the native people here. Vincent also didn't have much issue. Both of them had dark hair and didn't hesitate to get some clothing that matched the local outfits. Cloud and Aeris stood out more. Brown hair wasn't so common here, especially that pale of brown, but neither of them stood out like Sephiroth. And given his rather unique looks, cat eyes and the silver undertone that still showed through the dye, it was far too likely that someone who he had fought in the past would see him and know who he is.

Yuffie had done her best to take them around in a way to keep from any big towns, or anyplace she knew where there were ninjas patrolling. Sephiroth was impressed that she had done such a good job.

Then they had come to capital, and there was no more hiding.

The moment they hit the wall, Yuffie had parked herself on Zack's back, refusing to move, and making him carry her. It was easy to see that it helped keep the guards from stabbing any of them automatically, so neither Sephiroth nor Zack commented too much on it. Instead, Zack just adjusted his balance and carried her.

They were walked right to the doors of the palace, where they were met by Godo. The man said nothing, just looked at the guards around them all, and walked. It only took a few comments, and Sephiroth and the others followed. They came to a large area, and were escorted to the side.

"Sit," was the only order that was given to Sephiroth. He obeyed and there he stayed. Then Godo's plan became clear.

Shifting, Sephiroth watched as Aeris struggled to keep up the fight with the ninja set against her. Vincent had said there would be a test, but he didn't imagine it was this. Him fighting, yes. But watching the others with him go up against highly trained ninjas while he did nothing...

Aeris was struggling already, and Sephiroth could tell the man she was facing was holding back. But the girl never had to fight normally. She just a little to deal with the few monsters and occasional wannabe mugger. She was not a trained fighter, and he dearly wanted to call off the fight. But part of the test was for him to do nothing. Instead, he had to sit there as watch as Aeris's strikes got slower and slower as she tired out.

This was the last fight. Vincent had drawn even with his battle against the one called Chekhov. Zack had faced Staniv and won, but he was tired. Cloud had lost against his opponent, but it was expected since the teen was still recovering from far too long in the labs. And now Aeris was facing the last of the set. These were special fighters. Sephiroth could tell that just by how they interacted, and he would have to find out who they were later. He had to watch this for now.

While he knew that she wouldn't be killed, Sephiroth's heart still clenched as he saw Aeris slowly losing this fight. Then, with a flurry of strikes, it was over. She was sitting sprawled on the ground, her staff off to the side, and panting.

Godo's eyes were on him, and Sephiroth forced himself to relax. Zack was instantly in the ring the moment Aeris was down, and offering her his hand.

Now the bargaining would happen.

They waited until Zack had brought Aeris back over, the woman leaning on his arm and obviously winded. She settled down with a grateful look. Then Sephiroth focused his attention on Lord Godo.

For a moment, there was only silence as drinks were served, and once the servants faded back again, the leader of Wutai looked at each of them.

"You wish for me to risk open war with Shin-Ra again so that you may live free from them. Tell me, why should I do that?"

Sephiroth shook his head. "You would have started a war with them soon or later regardless. There is no guarantee that they will start a fight with you. While they won, the battle was long and drained quite a few resources they had. And, honestly, they won nothing that justified the war. There are no mako reactors here, no profit. They continue to lose money simply by keeping what troops they do have here. It would take a lot to make Shin-Ra start a war, at least until they recover the losses from the last one." He looked steadily at Godo.

"There is also the fact that if we were allowed to stay, you would have the bragging rights of having stolen some of their best fighters." Sephiroth's voice was calm, with no sign of bragging. It was simply the truth. He was the best fighter Shin-Ra had, and Zack was not far behind. "The fact that their best known SOLDIER abandoned Shin-Ra to go to Wutai will also make some of the more recently acquired areas to try regaining their freedom, and that will simply add more fires for Shin-Ra to focus on. Which they will need to deal with before they could focus on you again. Even they aren't as foolish as to leave spots of rebellion active far closer to Midgar. They've been focusing on Fort Condor since Wutai fell and the soldiers at the fort decided to rebel."

He saw Godo studying him, and wondered what the man was going to ask next.

"Leviathan devours those who swear false oaths. Would you swear an oath to serve Wutai, and to never return to the service of Shin-Ra? It is not a simple set of words. You will be marked by Leviathan, each of you." The man smirked faintly. "It would be a great honor for you. Normally, only those of great trust and honor are marked by the Great Serpent."

Sephiroth looked at the others, then back at Godo. "What would be...required in this marking?"

"Oh, nothing complicated," Godo said, amusement clear in his face. "You simply hold the summon of Leviathan, and if he deems you worthy, he leaves a simple mark on your skin. After that, you are part of Wutai. Though if he find you lying to him about your intentions, all the water of your body will vanish." Which was lethal, but he was sure that Sephiroth and his companions could figure that out. "One has to be willing to submit to the will of Leviathan for this to work. Would you be willing?"

Another glance at the others, and Sephiroth got faint nods from each of them. "All right," he looked at Godo again. "I'm willing."

"Me, too," added Zack, and slowly each of them agreed, even Vincent. The man had traveled with them so far, and Sephiroth was pleased in a vague way that he had decided to stay. Cloud was fond of him, and seemed to relax when the man was around. Given that it sounded as if Vincent had been the only means of support that the blond had had for a while, Sephiroth could understand.

Once the others agreed, Sephiroth looked at Godo again. The man nodded, and then pulled the summon loose. Around them, the four people that the others had fought early shifted, and Sephiroth tensed to their movement. They were ready to fight if Sephiroth tried to take the summon. He could see that they were very serious about this, and forced himself to relax. When Godo offered it to him, Sephiroth took the glowing materia, and curled his fingers around it.

As he did, it suddenly went bright, almost blinding. Shutting his eyes, Sephiroth felt...something. He didn't know what it was, just as if someone very, very strong and very old was petting him on his head and telling him to run along. It was very...odd.

Then there was a flare of pain on the back of his right shoulder, and there was a growl from Zack from the side. It cut off when Sephiroth shook his head, the pain fading as quickly as it had come. With a shaking hand, he dropped the materia back into Godo's hand. "What was that?"

The ruler of Wutai just chuckled. "You just got the approval of Leviathan. Let us go through the others, and we will decide what to do with each of you."

Zack was next, and when he held it, Sephiroth suddenly realized what that pain was on his back. When Zack went tense from the pain, he pressed a hand to the back of his neck. When he pulled it down, Sephiroth could see there was a new mark, dark violets and black, with swirls of green marks. It looked like a tattoo of a finned serpent, only much more vibrant in color than any of those marks he had seen before.

"That was fucking weird," Zack muttered. Aeris was next, and her mark was easy to see, a curl of another of those serpents around her arm, in pale yellows and dark greens, fins spread in a pattern that reminded Sephiroth of her flowers. Cloud and Vincent's, he didn't see. Cloud just pressed a hand to the center of his chest and Vincent rolled his left shoulder.

Once it was done, Godo handed the materia to the man Vincent had fought, and the four vanished behind a screen. "Well, none of you died," he said, looking at the mark on Aeris's arm. "And each of you are marked now. Welcome to Wutai. With your help, we will make her strong again." He looked at them, eyes moving from one to the other. "The House of Byakko has been empty since the war ended. Yuffie, take them there." He looked at them, meeting Sephiroth's eyes.

"We will have much to talk about, Sephiroth, including things such as how SOLDIERs are created and what secrets that Shin-Ra has that might be of use to us. You are part of our court now, and Leviathan has accepted you. Do not be surprised if his people are slower to be so accepting. Still, he had marked you, and you are welcomed to my home. If anyone troubles you, bring it to my attention. It is obvious that our god has plans for you, and it is not for us to try to disrupt them." The man stood, nodding at each of them.

"Yuffie will show you where to go, and I will have servants bring you what you need. The House of Byakko has not been used since the last warrior chosen to by Leviathan lived there with his family. With your eyes, I wonder if he didn't chose you long ago and it simply took you this long to find us." He nodded at them.

"Welcome to your new home."

With that, the man left, and Yuffie squealed and reattached herself to Zack. Which made Sephiroth chuckle, given the look on Zack's face. Yuffie didn't seem to notice, and just traced a fingertip along the serpent on Zack's neck. "I've never heard of five people getting marked at once. That's pretty cool."

Then she let go and bounced towards the door. "Come on. I got to show you where your new home is."

A home. Sephiroth looked at the others. Aeris and Cloud were smiling tiredly, Zack grin was bright, and even Vincent looked a little pleased.

Home.

They were safe for now, and Sephiroth was content to let things be like that for a while. Now was time to rest and recover.

They had two years to catch up on, and he planned on enjoying it.

**End Book One**

Not to say that this story is over. We still got a whole lot to go over. Next up, the Intermission sections, which should bit pretty large chapters. Hopefully. *makes no promises* I admit, this story is one of my most popular, so I'm going to make sad faces at you guys and do some begging for reviews. I love comments, and more reviews means I'm encouraged to write faster. Feed the hungry writer, please? It's the only food we get.


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